War of the Three
by sdkronon
Summary: After the fall of the Worldstone, the Prime Evils escape to another realm. No one, including the Akatsuki, is safe and Konoha falls. Will Naruto and his allies, including ones from Sanctuary, be able to defeat them? NarutoDiablo II crossover.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I wish I did, but alas I do not own neither Naruto nor Blizzard Entertainment.**

**I hope you are ready for a wild ride.**

Evil comes in many forms, but none were ever as powerful as the Prime Evils. They were the Lords of Hell itself. The Prime Evils were three demons of unworldly power, each with methods of destruction and corruption to tempt or ruin any mortal soul. However, such as Evil was and always is they were not satisfied with just mastery of their own domain. They sought to enslave and dominate everything, including the realms of mankind and the ramparts of Heaven itself.

Good, by its own nature, is benevolent and relies on subtle methods of non-interference. Kami, by her own hand, is mostly willing to let mankind find its own way though tough times. However, it did not mean that her Angels could not act if those of Demonic origin would strike mankind directly.

It was by this hand that the War of Sanctuary occurred. Sanctuary was one of the realms of mankind, where many different versions of magics and weapons reigned. It was a place of great beauty and where Evil only reigned in the hearts of some. However, the Prime Evils saw this realm as the first of many places to conquer.

Initially, the forces of Mankind were not able to hold back the onslaught of Hell's forces and lost battle after battle. It took a bit of time before Mankind would swallow its pride and started to work together.

The first to unite were the mage clans. Their ability to bend elemental forces of fire, ice, and lightning to its will was extraordinary, but the inability of the clans to work together hindered their ability to fight the Prime Evils. After a long struggle, Horazon managed to unite the mage clans, forming the Horadrim. However, they knew just their might would not be enough to turn the tide and looked to find allies against Hell's armies.

Help came from the Barbarian and Druid clans from the mountains of the far West. Both clans were great warriors but differed slightly. Barbarians lived for combat, glory, and honor. Their massive strength and endurance allowed them to wear massive sets of armor and even wield gigantic swords in each hand. Their two-sword fighting style was legendary for its way of cleaving through large sections of the enemy. Also masters of any weapon, they could easily take any weapon found on the battlefield and use it to their advantage. Unlike their one-time brethren, Druids lived to be at one with nature itself. Druid could command the winds and earth, including fire from the earth's core, as well as the ability to call upon the beasts of the land. Those Druids who were so in-tune with the animal kingdom could even shift into beast forms and fight with their strength.

Their combined force drove the armies of Baal, Lord of Destruction, and Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, from the base of Mount Arreat east to the city of Travincal in the country of Kurast. There, the combined force of the Horadrim and the Barbaric-Druidic Alliance was able to join forces with the Priests and Knights of Zakarum, commonly known as Paladins. They were able to wield holy powers and protect others with its blessings. With their combined force, Mephisto was captured and sealed within the temple of Zakarum inside of the first Soulstone.

The Soulstones were given to mankind by the archangel Tyrael after they were discovered by his counterpart, the archangel Izual. These stones had the ability bind the souls and power of the Three inside the stones, keeping their influence away from mankind. With part of their forces shattered, Baal retreated across the ocean to the Lands of the East and joined forces with his brother Diablo, Lord of Terror. The Priests and Knights of Zakarum stayed to protect the temple. The Barbaric-Druidic Alliance also stayed behind to protect Mount Arreat as something of great value was contained at the summit.

The forces of the Horadrim then sought a new alliance and managed to work out a treaty with the great Amazon tribes of the eastern plains. These women of tremendous stature were able to bind elemental powers to their bows and javelins. Combined with their accuracy and speed, they were able to keep the forces of the Diablo and Baal at bay. After a great battle in the desert outside of the oasis of Lut Gohlein, Horazon and another great mage, Tal Rasha, was able to separate Baal from his forces. Tyrael then lent another Soulstone to bind Baal and seal him within one of the caves in the Canyon of the Magi, only accessible through Horazon's Arcane Sanctuary. However, it was not without cost. Tal Rasha had to stay to help maintain the seal on the tomb and help contain Baal within the Soulstone.

With Hell's forces cut into a third of its original strength, the combined might of the Horadrim, the Amazon, as well as other adventurers along the way drove Diablo back. Diablo made his last stand and fell in the catacombs underneath a church outside of the village of Tristram. There in the catacombs, Diablo was sealed inside the final Soulstone. Some of the Horadrim and Amazon stayed behind to augment Tristram's local forces.

However, Tyrael was deceived by his own ally, the archangel Izual. Izual was Tyrael's most trusted counterpart and was vital in the early stages of the war. However, before Mephisto's defeat, Izual wanted to lead a direct assault upon Hell itself to force the remaining Prime Evils. Tyrael refused, stating that he was only going to assist Mankind in its victory and not directly attack Hell's forces.

Feeling betrayed by one he once saw as a brother, Izual tried to lead the assault on his own and was defeated. Unknown to Tyrael, Izual was turned by the Three and they came up with the idea of the Soulstones. With the essence of the Three sealed in the stones, they could influence Mankind directly. Mankind's greatest strength and weakness was its free will. Knowing this, with the direct influence of the Three, Mankind could be turned from the Light of Good and driven into the Darkness of Evil.

This started to take shape over a century's time and first began in Tristram. Townsfolk there turned missing and strange creatures started to come from the catacombs. Most of Tristram's forces were decimated by the Diablo spawned minions; however Tristram was never razed to the ground. The town elders, led by an old Horadric mage Deckard Cain, looked for adventurers to investigate the cause of the minions. Many adventurers failed but one lone wanderer managed and found Diablo.

The wanderer defeated Diablo, and removed the Soulstone. However, long term exposure to the Soulstone caused him to be possessed by the spirit of Diablo. After a few months, Tristram fell and a dark wanderer made his way west. Along the way, the original allies started to fall under the spell of corruption from both the wanderer and the other Soulstones.

However groups of adventurers banded together to combat this spreading evil. One such party of adventurers was group of five consisting of a tall blonde Amazon marksman named Mia, a muscular redheaded male Druid named Baerach, a dark-skinned and noble man called Anstrum who was a Paladin, a voluptuous raven-haired sorceress by the name of Selene, and a quiet brunette Assassin named Alexia.

The Assassin Guild was formed when the Horadrim broke against the weight of greed and petty differences. Assassins were trained in martial arts, traps, and manipulating shadow forces to their will. They used claws and blades strapped to their wrists and forearms as extensions of their bodies. After long periods of training, assassins could imbue the claws with elemental energy, use mental attacks and even create a solid clone. These abilities were honed to enable an assassin to defeat any skilled mage or sorceress who turned from the Light.

Originally, Selene and Alexia clashed but though their shared adventures in the party, they learned to trust each other. Alongside Baerach, Mia, and Anstrum, they defeated many of the minions from the pits of Hell as well as those corrupted souls. However, their toughest test started when they heard rumors of a dark wanderer spreading corruption and terror along its path as he made his way west.

Arriving first at a rogue Amazon encampment, the five scoured the Amazon Plains and made their way to Tristram. There they freed Deckard Cain from the minions of Diablo and returned him to the encampment. He told of how the wanderer fell under the spell of Diablo and destroyed the village, caging him and setting out towards the west in order to free his brothers. However, they were not able to give chase as the area was besieged by one of Diablo's generals, the Demoness Andariel, who managed to possess many of the Amazons. The five vowed to free Mia's compatriots and fought their way to a monastery that the demoness was using as a command center.

After the group defeated the Demoness Andariel, they followed the dark wanderer to the city of Lut Gohlein. Unfortunately, the jewel of the desert also befell the corruption that came from the Soulstone within the area. The group was able to free the city from the clutches of the army of minions led by the demon Duriel, but was not able to stop the wanderer from freeing Baal from his prison. Baal already had possessed the mage, Tal Rasha, adding his vast magics to Baal's dark powers.

The two crossed the sea to Kurast, which already fell under the spell of hatred wove by the Lord of Hatred, Mephisto. Anstrum led the party and followed Baal and Diablo throughout Kurast. They managed to defeat the Lord of Hatred at the Temple of Zakarum, obtaining his blue Soulstone. Tyrael then led the party to the Pandemonium Fortress, an Angelic Outpost just outside the gates of Hell itself. The party gained entrance to Hell and battle through, defeating Izual and then Diablo itself, grabbing his red Soulstone. They even managed to secure the Hell Forge and destroy the Soulstones, or so they thought.

However, all was for naught. Baal used the time that Diablo gave to lead his army up the slopes of Mount Arreat. The party naturally followed and launched counter-attacks from the Barbarian stronghold Harrogath. It was found out from Deckard Cain that inside a keep at the summit of Mount Arreat was the Worldstone, which the Barbarian clans were charged with guarding, alongside their Ancients. The Ancients were warriors of such renown that Kami blessed them with the gift of eternal life and charged them with guarding the gate of the keep. Barbarian clans saw the Ancients as their deities and it became a rite of passage for young Barbarian warriors to climb to the summit and face a trial against the Ancients themselves. No one was able to pass into the keep without defeating the Ancients, unless a ward kept by the elders of Harrogath was used.

One of those said elders, Nilithalk, betrayed Mankind by giving the ward to Baal, allowing him to bypass the Ancients. The party tried their best and managed to pass the Ancients' trial and made their way though the keep, reaching the throne room. Baal was waiting and sent his Generals to defeat the party in wave after wave. It was not enough to defeat the force of Light and Baal retreated to the Worldstone Chamber. After a long and exhaustive battle, Baal was defeated and his body liquefied, leaving the yellow Soulstone behind.

**

* * *

Worldstone Chamber**

The group was worn down and famished. The long road of battle and struggle led them to this final battle inside the hallowed halls of the Worldstone Chamber. Baal was a tricky bastard and managed to keep the group at bay with his appendages, mana-leeching ice waves, and life-leaching fire breath. He even managed to duplicate himself after he started to obtain damage. However, between Mia's hailstorm of arrows, Anstrum's holy auras, and Baerach's claws from Werewolf form along with his bear companion, Baal was wounded badly and weakening fast.

Seeing an opening, Alexia nodded to Selene, readying a coordinated attack. Selena focused her mana and launched a barrage of Frozen Orbs, spinning wildly at Baal, with icicles spraying off each orb from every rotation the orb spun. Under the cover of the orbs, Alexia charged electrical energy into her right foot and launched into a Dragon Flight kick as the orbs impacted Baal. She disappeared from sight and reappeared at the point of impact with tremendous force, dealing the deathblow to the greatest of the Prime Evils.

As the great demon lord melted away, the group let out a sigh. Baerach turned back into his human form with a sickening crunch. He reached into his pack and gave a slab of meat to his bear companion and sent him home. As the bear disappeared, the chamber started to rumble.

"As if things couldn't get any worse." Mia grumbled, notching an arrow in her longbow. "Anybody know what's going on? Selene?"

Selene closed her eyes and concentrated, then immediately fell to her knees, which prompted Anstrum to rush to her side.

"What happened, my lady? What did you sense?" Anstrum asked as he helped her to her feet.

Selene groaned in complaint. "Massive chaotic energies are swirling. It feels like everything is tearing apart."

A deep growl came from the beastly Baerach. "I sense it too. I feel the complaints from my animal brethren though the link. It seems they are afraid."

"Afraid of what, Baerach?" Alexia asked curiously while scanning the area, looking for any new enemies.

"Nature itself." He said grimly. "It seems everything is falling apart. Were we too late?"

Just then, a white light filled the room and a being of Heavenly presence descended into the chamber. A hooded figure shimmering in light landed near the ruby walkway leading to the Worldstone. Streams of energy fluttered from his back like wings made of ribbons. He was carrying a large sword that gave off a strange aura. Everyone present instantly knew who this was, for they met him before.

Tyrael spoke with a booming voice that echoed in the vast chamber. _**"I am impressed, mortals. You have overcome the greatest challenge this world has ever faced and defeated the last of the Prime Evils. However, we are too late to save the Worldstone. Baal's destructive touch has corrupted it completely. **_

Given enough time, the Worldstone's energies will drain away and the barriers between the worlds will shatter -- the powers of Hell will flood into this...Sanctuary...and eradicate your people and everything you've labored to build.

Therefore I must destroy the corrupted Worldstone before the powers of Hell take root. This act will change your world forever -- with consequences even I cannot foresee. However it is the only way to ensure mankind's survival. 

_**Go now, mortals. I have opened a portal that will lead you to safety. May the Eternal Light shine upon you and your descendants for what you've done this day. The continued survival of mankind is your legacy. Above all else, you have earned a rest from the endless battle."**_

With those words, Tyrael opened a portal radiating with a red energy. The group nodded and performed one last sweep, looking for anything of value to take along their journey. Seeing nothing other than a few gold coins, they group went through Tyrael's portal one at a time.

Alexia turned to Tyrael, who gazed back at her and nodded slightly as he started a prayer meant to give his sword the power to shatter the Worldstone. Alexia shed a lone tear, knowing that things were never going to be the same and then went into the portal.

Normally a portal would close after the last person meant for the portal passed through its apex. Unfortunately, no one noticed the yellow crystal that was laying at the edge of the portal. The crystal glowed and grew in power as Tyrael finished his prayer, launching his sword in a pinwheel motion. The great sword imbedded itself into the Worldstone and it shattered. The yellow crystal grabbed two shards of the Worldstone and they changed to a blue and a red crystal, and then dropped into the portal.

As soon as the portal closed, Tyrael noticed a growing evil aura and hung his head. He knew Baal managed to escape once again and their efforts, even to seal off this realm to Hell's forces was in vain. Now another realm was in jeopardy. Tyrael quickly vanished from the chamber and reappeared in Harrogath in front of Deckard Cain.

The old Horadric Mage knew this was the end of his road. Feeling the energies of the world slipping away and the endless quakes emanating from the earth beneath his feet, he knew the end times have arrived. He worried that the Light had lost their battle against Baal and the world was doomed to everlasting Darkness. He said a quick prayer for his soul and the souls of those he met along his travels, then awaited his fate. Fortunately, fate sometimes changes its mind.

"_**Deckard Cain, do not despair. Your time is not done yet. I have more work for you, my friend."**_ A booming regal voice proclaimed to him.

Turning, Cain saw the majestic visage of Tyrael and gave a sigh in relief. "What is asked of me now?"

"_**It appears that Baal and his brothers have eluded their fate and corrupted the Worldstone. This realm is changing. However, it seems that the Three followed the heroes that defeated them to another realm where I sent the heroes to rest. They will need your guidance again."**_

With a wave of his hand, a red portal appeared and Cain instantly knew it was for him. Sighing he walked to the portal and stepped through, but not before muttering his final words for this realm. "I really need to get a desk job or a warm bed next time."

Sighing, Tyrael ascended back to the Heavenly plane and started to search for where exactly the Lords of Hell went to, as well as what heroes may be there to help in the fight.

**

* * *

Konoha Village**

It was always the most humbling of days when someone you knew died. For everyone present, it was the second funeral for the Sarutobi clan in three years. The first was for the Sandaime Hokage and this one was for his son, Asuma. Everyone was in attendance dressed in black and in somber remembrance, just like the last funeral. Standing there, barely holding back the tears like last time was a teenage boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and whiskers-like marks on his face. Standing next to him was a young brown haired boy with his hair in a slight ponytail. He was wiping his eyes and whispering the name of his uncle Asuma, mourning the loss of all of the family he had left.

As the teenager was about to console the last of the Sarutobi clan, a blinding red flash burst from the sky. Everyone shielded their eyes from the light. As it faded, the blond teenager looked up along with the rest of the funeral party and saw three streaks, blue, red, and yellow, dance across the sky falling off to the horizon.

"Naruto-niisan, what do you think that was?" the Sarutobi heir asked sniffling as he recovered from his tears.

"I have no idea, Konohamaru. Maybe it was an omen." Naruto replied gloomily.

The young boy turned up to his blond haired rival and looked to see if he found anything of note from his face. For a moment, he saw a look of grave concern on the blonde's face, but suddenly a grin appeared as Naruto looked back at his friend.

"Don't worry, Konohamaru. It probably was a good omen. I bet it meant we will take down those bastards and we will live out our dreams." Naruto said smiling.

"Are you sure, niisan? Those guys that took Asuma away were very tough, from what I heard."

"Don't you fret. It is nothing a future Hokage can't defeat." Naruto replied confidently. However, inside Naruto did not feel the same confidence he proclaimed. For some reason, a chill crept into his very being and for the second time since he put on his Konoha hitai-ate, he was… scared.

**

* * *

Ichiraku's Ramen Stand**

For some reason, all Naruto could think of after the funeral was to go to his favorite Ramen stand, but not to eat. Of course, if the owner Teuchi or his daughter Ayame were there, he'd probably eat a bowl or twenty.

However, this feeling of dread that enveloped him caused him concern and he needed to talk to friends. He could have sought out his senseis, Iruka or Kakashi, or even his wayward master Jiraiya, but for the life of him, he felt like the Ramen stand was a good place to start.

'_Ano… if anything, I will at least get a friendly face and a warm bowl of ramen out of it. Nothing clears the blues away like a bowl of Kami-spawned goodness.' _Naruto thought.

As he approached the old stand, he noticed no one was inside. _'Odd. I didn't think they would be closing shop today. I would have sworn they would reopen after the funeral.'_ He sighed and turned back towards his apartment. _'Maybe at least, I can go and change out of these depressing robes.'_

Again the pull reached him and he turned back to the Ramen stand, letting his feet propel him to the stools inside.

'_Alright, what is this!?! Why can't I just go home? What is drawing me here???' _He mused to himself.

'_**I am.' **_A dark voice inside his head replied.

'_And who is this??' _

'_**Who else is in your head, kit?'**_

Naruto gulped as he realized who was talking to him. There was only one other entity that inhabited his body. It was the bane of his existence since birth, the reason he was hated and scorned by the villagers, and the source of his healing powers. The nine-tailed fox itself.

Naruto made his way to the store front and found the entrance unlocked. His body walked inside under its own power, guided by the foxes mind and made its way to a seat in the far back. As soon as his body was seated, he fell into a trance and his mind was brought before a large golden cage. The lock was covered with a paper seal and the hallway to the room was dark and musty. On every trip before hand, the pipes lining the walls were dripping and there was water on the floor, however this time the place was dry.

'_**Nice to see you again, kit. Even though, it always is in the worst of circumstances.'**_ A guttural voice uttered from a pair of red slitted eyes on the other side of the cage in front of Naruto.

'_Great. Seeing you is never fun. I thought Sasuke got rid of you.' _Naruto pointed out with an irritated tone. The last time Naruto was in this chamber, Uchiha Sasuke, his one-time teammate, pulled him in with his Sharingan and silenced the great fox.

'_**Like that bag of flesh could. If the Yondaime couldn't fully stop me, how do you think the Uchiha would?' **_the fox glared back at its human host.

'_Ok then. Now explain why I am here.' _Naruto retorted getting into a firm fighting stance.

'_**You felt that presence didn't you? That was a completely new evil that showed up.' **_The fox replied with a hint of trepidation in its voice.

Naruto picked up on the vibe coming from the fox. For a moment, he thought the bad demon was actually… afraid.

'_Are you worried about that? Usually you sound so menacing, but not this time.'_

'_**Not afraid or worried, like you may think. I am actually concerned. Those three streaks held the evil that we sensed and they were so far away but their full aura was enough to saturate the air with its stench.'**_ All of a sudden, the fox looked up towards the ceiling. _**'It appears we have company so I will end this conversation. We will need to talk again, especially if this new evil is going to upset the balance. Now get out of here.'**_

'_Balance? What do you…' _Naruto tried to reply before he was forcibly removed from his mindscape. Shaking his head, he noticed his senseis, Kakashi and Yamato standing in front of him in their full Jounin attire complete with green vests and black ANBU suits.

"Nice to see you join the land of the living, Naruto. What just happened?" Kakashi, the lazy silver haired Jounin asked.

"Not much," Naruto replied scratching the back of his head as he scanned the area. "Are we clear??"

"Why are you asking that, Naruto?" Yamato asked warily.

"I had a conversation with _it_." Naruto stated calmly, looking both Jounin directly in the eye.

Both ninjas looked back at their pupil and grew concerned, and it was clearly evident on their faces. It was obvious as much as they tried to hide it. The two men scanned the area real quick and then cast a silencing jutsu. After a small shimmer pulsed throughout the stand, they sat down next to Naruto and motioned him to continue.

"For once, I was glad that the fox talked to me, and worried as well." Naruto stated gloomily. Kakashi caught the look on his face. Never has he seen Naruto act in such a manner. Usually his spirits were high and he never shown the look he had now. If Kakashi didn't know any better, he would have thought Naruto was… scared senseless.

"What did the Kyuubi mention?" Yamato inquired, also concerned with the look on Naruto's face. He may have only dealt with him for one mission, but he could tell that this is not the confident and upbeat ninja that he was most of the time.

Naruto let out a sigh and looked at both ninjas dead in their eyes, letting them know how serious the situation was.

"Kyuubi sensed a powerful evil from that display in the sky. In his words, he was concerned and wanted to talk again if the evil he sensed would upset the balance. I do not know about you two, but anything that is evil enough to concern the Kyuubi can't be a good thing."

Kakashi and Yamato took a minute to take it in before deciding on a course of action.

"Did he mention anything else??" Kakashi asked.

"Not as of yet. I do not think he really knows what it was that came from the sky but the aura that it gave off chilled my soul at the funeral." Naruto stated plainly looking absently at the door.

Kakashi nodded. "Alright Naruto. Head back to your place and pack up, just in case we need to set out. Yamato-taicho and I will speak with the Hokage. After we are done, I will meet you at your place. We will continue our training unless we are told otherwise."

"Hai!" Naruto exclaimed as he took off for his place. For some reason, he knew that a mission would be coming shortly and there was no time to waste.

**

* * *

The Great Naruto Bridge**

Alexia dashed out of the portal looking upon a massive bridge overlooking a straight between the mainland and an offshore island. Brandishing her claws, she took note of her surroundings and saw her team just in front of the bridge, looking at a bronze plaque adorning the right stanchion of the bridge.

She approached her team, calming down and hiding her claws. Noticing the plaque they were reading, she took the time to analyze it.

_The Great Naruto Bridge_

_Dedicated to the actions of one Uzumaki Naruto and his team_

_They showed a village and a nation that there were heroes still left in the world._

Taking in the words of the plaque, she gazed upon Selene leaning against Anstrum for support while Baerach and Mia scanned the horizon taking in the new environment.

"Well, from the looks of things, we know there are decent people around here if this plaque is true. It also means there is a village nearby. Do you sense anything, Baerach?" Alexia asked of her bestial teammate.

"From the smell on the air, there is a fishing village just on the other side of this bridge. I do not sense any evil intent here. I also sense a familiar scent. I know he didn't come with us, so it can't be who I think it is. Either way, I say we scout ahead." Baerach replied. With a wave of his hand and a cawing sound emanating from his lips, he looked towards the horizon. In a few seconds, he spotted a couple ravens flying over to meet them. He cawed at them and in response, the two ravens blinked, cawed, and flew off to the other side to the bridge.

After a couple minutes, the ravens returned and cawed a report to their human counterpart and with a nod, he dismissed the two avian scouts. "It appears that there is a small conversation going on at the other side of the bridge. The two scouts could not fully pick out who they were, but one seemed to have a grey cloak on and carried an old walking stick. If my impressions are correct, I believe a friend of ours is up ahead."

"Anyone object to us going into the village??" Alexia asked the group.

"Let's go already. I hate wasting time here." Mia stated slinging her bow upon her back and started to pace the area.

"There should be not problems with going on ahead. Coming to this place in front of a bridge dedicated to someone of honor and heroism truly must be a sign." Anstrum stated sheathing his broad sword and shouldering his massive shield.

"I do not believe there could be any problems with this. Perhaps chance has smiled upon us this time." Selene smiled as she latched her casting rod to her belt.

"Alright then, let's move out." Alexia replied and led the way with the others staggered behind in a simple defensive formation.

Looking around, the air was brisk and the sun shining. There was a crisp breeze on the air and the smell of the sea filled everyone's noses. As they marched forward, they started to see the appearance of the group in front of them. As noted, there was a graying old man wearing a gray cloak and leaning upon a staff. Next to him was a man wearing a gray flannel vest and tan pants. On his head was a conical straw hat. He was tanned from many days in the sun and wore glasses and a beard. There also was a woman and a teenager next to the man and they were actively listening to what the two were discussing.

When they got within fifty meters, the old man cocked his head as if he sensed something and then turned towards the party's direction. As he glimpsed upon the group approaching him, a smile graced is wise face and he waved them over. Alexia spotted this and sped up slightly, allowing the group to approach the man who seemed friendly. When they got within a few meters space, they instantly recognized the man in front of them.

"Greetings, young Alexia. I am glad to have met you again, and I see your group is no worse for wear." Deckard Cain replied in his usual olden sage voice.

"Greetings to you as well Master Cain. It is a surprise to see you here. How did you get here?" Alexia asked warmly at the man they once rescued many moons ago. Over time, the group looked upon his council warmly and always was vital to their success.

"I imagine it was the same as you. When the quakes started and the energies of our realm fell apart, Tyrael sent me here. He stated that you may need my council once again. I arrived in the middle of this village. Initially the response was not the warmest of things but Tazuna here and his family took me in." He replied motioning to the man in the straw hat and the other two people. "I was about to head out heading for a village called Konoha that these people told me of. They told me about a boy named Uzumaki Naruto and they stated he would be one to trust. Supposedly, he freed these people from a tyrant and helped protect this man while he finished the bridge you just crossed."

"Yes, we read the plaque on the other side of the bridge, sage." Baerach replied. "Are you sure Konoha is where we should head?"

"I am quite sure, Druid." Cain retorted in their familiar style. Neither two ever called the other by their name but rather by their title. Even though most saw this as disrespectful, for the Druid and the Horadric Sage, it was actually quite the opposite.

"If I may intercede here, since there are more of you and you have been reunited, it might be best to spend the night here. A messenger bird was sent along over an hour ago telling of your arrival and intent to go to Konoha. Someone from Konoha would come to escort you to the gates. I was trying to explain this to your friend here, but he wanted to go anyways in hopes of finding you along the way. By the looks of things, except for the young lady in black and red, none of you are ninja and would most likely be deemed suspicious if you approached the gates as a group." Tazuna interjected. "I am sure my daughter would not mind boarding you up for a couple of days, while we wait for your escorts."

"Hmmm… Your words do have merit and your hospitality is appreciated, especially since you helped our friend here." Anstrum replied. "I have no problem waiting here. What do you think, my lady?"

Selene looked upon the Paladin's face and smiled. "I think that would work just fine."

"Well then, we will stay." Alexia responded. "Thank you for your offer Tazuna. If you would not mind leading the way?"

With that, Tazuna nodded and motioned everyone to follow him as he led the group towards his house. The young woman and the teenage boy walked behind the group and talked amongst themselves.

"This is a very interesting group, kaasan. I liked Cain-sama. He seemed nice." The teenage boy stated looking up at his mother.

"Cain-sama did seem rather pleasant, Inari-kun. It will be nice having visitors again." The mother responded with a gentle smile.

"Do you think Naruto-nisan, Kakashi-san, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-san will be the ones coming from Konoha, kaasan?" Inari looked hopefully at his mother.

"I would not be surprised. You remember Naruto-kun promised he would come back. Do you think he would break his word?" the mother asked warmly.

"I wouldn't be surprised Naruto-san would be sprinting over here as soon as word reached Konoha, Tsunami-chan!" Tazuna answered for his daughter and grandson.

Inari smiled the warmest smile he had for the longest time. He knew that very soon, he would be seeing his niisan and hero once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I may wish to own Naruto and Blizzard Entertainment. Wishing is not reality. Those that truly own them must be filthy rich.**

**

* * *

Hokage's Office**

Omens come in many shapes and sizes. Some people believe it comes from a cracked picture or black cat crossing your path. Others believe it comes from a changing of wind or the appearance of a rainbow. For the voluptuous woman seated in the chair that many great men sat before her, it came with a simple lottery ticket. Lady Tsunade didn't pick up the name 'Legendary Sucker' for no reason at all. She was known for making bad bets, one after another. So much that it was well known that if she made a bet, the opposite would occur.

That is unless the bet actually worked. Every time she won a bet or any sort of gambling proposition, trouble was sure to follow. It happened just before Asuma died, and now she just won the Fire Country's Lottery. Millions of ryo belonged to her now, but that just meant that the amount of trouble coming was going to be immense.

The blonde turned to look out the window and gazed out over her village. Reconstruction was going well enough after the three years that followed Orochimaru's attempt at devastation. Unfortunately, the numbers of shinobi ready for conflict was not where it needed to be. If she were to guess, Konoha was at half of the strength from where it was during the last great Shinobi War. She doubted that it would be enough to withstand a full attack from all of the Akatsuki members or a full fledged invasion by Orochimaru's Sound Army. She hoped that this omen was not along those lines.

Still dressed in her black funeral attire, she turned back to her desk and reached into a secret compartment to pull out a bottle of sake when a knock came at her door.

'_Sometimes, I wish I had just stayed in Tanzuka town.'_ She grumbled to herself as she straightened up in her seat.

"Enter."

The door opened and in walked two of her most trusted Jounin, Kakashi and Yamato, led by a young brunette in a navy blue kimono. Her assistant, Shizune, did not look pleased. She knew as well as the Hokage that any time that Kakashi and/or Yamato decided to walk through the door into her office was a bad sign. Add the concerned look on the two men's faces made her wonder how all the omens were aligning in a bad way.

"Tsunade-sama, Yamato-san and Kakashi-san have some interesting news." Shizune mentioned politely.

"Please tell me you have some decent news. Between the last encounter with Sasuke and Orochimaru and the Akatsuki attack, I could use a bit of good news." Tsunade replied clasping her hands in front of her chin in a contemplative pose.

"I wish that was the case. Did you see the streaks that appeared across the sky during the funeral?" Kakashi asked calmly. Tsunade looked upon the lazy Jounin and noticed two things out of character for him. He was not reading his book and he was standing in an attentive position instead of leaning against a wall. More bad signs in her mind.

"I do not think anyone failed to notice them. There was an ominous feeling to them. What of it?"

"For some reason, those objects that fell from the sky caused a reaction from our lovable blonde and his… _tenant_." Yamato replied stiffly.

"It didn't mess with the seal did it?" She quickly asked concerned about the young ninja she often looked upon as her brother or even as a son.

"No, but it forced the two of them to have a conversation." Tsunade arched her eyebrows from Kakashi's words. "According to Naruto, it seems that the Kyuubi is concerned about those streaks and the evil they represent. It was worried that the new evil would 'upset the balance'."

"That demon is actually concerned about something other than destruction?? Did it affect Naruto's mood or cause any changes in him??" Tsunade probed.

"Other than a general concern over the Kyuubi's words, there was nothing else that I could see." Yamato replied.

While the three of them were discussing the events from Naruto's audience with the great demon fox, Shizune noticed a bird landing on the window sill behind the Godaime. She did a quick analysis jutsu and found no traps. She walked over to the window and opened it. It was a seagull with a small red pouch strapped to its leg. Opening the pouch, she noticed the note from Tazuna and gave it to the Godaime to read.

_Godaime-sama,_

_First, let me convey Wave Country's condolences on your recent loss. Sarutobi Asuma was well known and the brightness he brought will be sorely missed. Unfortunately, I have news to report._

_A visitor has come here this morning. Surely you saw the objects that fell from the sky. The visitor, named Deckard Cain, came a few moments before those object fell. He knew what those objects were and immediate wanted to come to Konoha, specifically looking for help from our hero, Uzumaki Naruto. The man is elderly but rather fit, even though he leans heavily on his walking stick. He also seems to possess an otherworldly knowledge of things which may be of use. He is adamant on coming to Konoha on his own, supposedly to also find his companions on his way. I will try to keep him here._

_I formally request a team or two to come here to my residence and meet with Deckard Cain. If possible, please allow Naruto-san's team to come._

_Tazuna, Master bridge builder._

She looked up from the note and quickly wrote a reply. Tsunade handed it to Shizune to place back in the pouch. After the bird was sent on its way, Tsunade spoke.

"Shizune, what teams are present in Konoha now?"

"Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, and the remainder of Team ten. The twenty guardians are still out and Team Gai should be back within the day. All of the Genin teams are here and most of the ANBU, except for one hunter-nin squad, are present as well." She reported swiftly.

"Kakashi, are you ready to go back out?" Tsunade inquired firmly.

"I am ready, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Gather your team. Yamato, inform the remainder of team ten that they will accompany you as well. Your mission is to go to Wave and meet with Tazuna. He has an elderly man with him named Deckard Cain. Supposedly, he has information about those objects. This Deckard Cain also mentioned wanting to meet Uzumaki Naruto and is also in search of some companions. Tazuna may not be able to keep this man there, so keep an eye out for him. On the way, make sure you keep an eye out for any further Akatsuki activity."

Yamato nodded. "Understood, Hokage-sama."

"Shizune, send messenger birds to call the twenty guardians back and please inform one of the ANBU to retrieve Jiraiya. Once everyone is back and we get whatever information this Deckard Cain has, we will go from there. Until then, no more missions are to be handed out. Between the Akatsuki, these objects, and Orochimaru's machinations, I have the feeling Konoha needs to be at full strength quickly."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Dismissed." Tsunade curtly replied and the three quickly disappeared from the office. Tsunade sighed and went back to looking at the village she loved. Even with the massive headache coming, she decided not to grab her sake bottle. She felt she needed to be sober for a while.

**

* * *

ROOT HQ**

Half a mile under Hokage Tower laid the nerve center of the secret ANBU group, ROOT. Danzo, a hardened elder adorned in many battle scars and bandages along his right side, led this group with one mission. ROOT served to preserve the great tree known as Konoha by any means necessary. He always disagreed with Sandaime's peaceful methods, preferring a hard-line militaristic stance to everyday affairs. With the Godaime in charge, he could appreciate her fiery temper and passion to protect Konoha, but her motherly nature seemed weak to him. He felt the time approaching where a stronger leader would be necessary and he started to position himself to be that leader.

With that in mind, he pondered those objects that fell from the sky. While most felt their malevolent nature, he saw them as just tools to be harnessed, much like the Kyuubi jinchuuriki should have been. If the Sandaime hadn't had enough support to keep Uzumaki Naruto under his protection, he would have became the perfect weapon for ROOT to use for the glory of Konoha. He was not going to let a second opportunity pass him by.

He stood ramrod straight, even though he balanced on his metal cane in his right hand. In front of him kneeled three of his trusted ROOT ANBU soldiers, all dressed in plain and unremarkable armor and masks.

"Agents three through five, your mission is to find those falling objects and retrieve them. Do not return if you do not obtain one of them." Danzo commanded. All three agents nodded and disappeared from sight.

**

* * *

Twenty leagues from Konoha**

Kakuzu was extremely perturbed over the loss of the body needed to claim the bounty on Sarutobi Asuma. One of the two Immortals that the Akatsuki employed, he was a bounty hunter of note. He survived encounters with Konoha nin and hunter-nin from other nations since for over a hundred years. Every partner he'd had died through carelessness or from the hands of time, which he managed to avoid.

It was now early in the afternoon and his partner was fully regenerated from the extraction ritual and the earlier battle last week with the Konoha ninjas. He knew there were more teams out there, but felt that their progress towards their objective could be made safely now that they were at full strength. Their leader was never really seen beyond holographic projection, but his power was palpable even then. They had already obtained one of the remaining jinchuuriki, a female Kumo nin by the name of Nii Yugito. She held the Nekomata Nibi inside her and was even able to manifest herself into full demonic form, but their abilities proved to overpower the demon container.

Now their objective was the hardest one so far. Uzumaki Naruto was the name of the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the legendary tailed demons that walked the land. This Naruto managed to have evaded the team of Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, which forced Leader-sama to reassign the capture of him to Kakuzu and his partner, Hidan, since they were already in the area.

Hidan himself was able to survive lethal attacks, including beheadings and other forms of impalement and dismemberment. His cultist methods were maniacal in their ruthlessness and efficiency, so long as his rituals were completed. However, during his last battle, they were losing the numbers game and had to retreat. Now they were ready to go.

"We had to sit still for six days now sealing the Nibi. I am getting antsy." The silver haired cultist grinned maniacally. "Let us find this Uzumaki Naruto. Jashin is demanding another sacrifice. Hopefully he will be a worthy sacrifice to my God."

"Just shut up and get moving. I want to get this over with." Kakuzu replied disdainfully.

As the two trekked towards Konoha, a reddish glow came from the west, which caught the eyes of the duo. The aura that emanated from that area seemed powerful enough to catch the breath of the two Immortals, even though it was off in the far horizon. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Kakuzu turns and walks toward it.

Hidan turned his partner, shocked that he was not following. "Kakuzu, what are you doing? Konoha is this way."

"Are you stupid? Did you not feel the power from that aura? I know our goal is the jinchuuriki, but Leader-sama would want this investigated. It also allows us to take a different path to Konoha and confuse the enemy."

Hidan just stared incredulously as his partner walked away. With a sigh in submission, he turned to follow. As the duo made their slow march, a shadow seemed to follow their steps.

After an hour-long march, they approached a burnt out clearing. A small crater was in the center of the clearing with an obvious streak of burnt trees and other foliage leading towards it. Kakuzu approached the crater cautiously, still noticing the intoxicating red aura from whatever object laid inside. As he stepped over the zenith and descended into the crater, he noticed the red horn-shaped crystal giving off the intense aura. Being cautious, he cut a piece of his cloak and wrapped it around the crystal, then sealed it inside a scroll.

All of a sudden, a loud gurgling scream came from behind him. Kakuzu turned to see his partner impaling an armor clad ninja with his triple-bladed scythe through the masked ninja's chest.

"This was not even a good sacrifice. Jashin is displeased with this ninja's skill." Hidan proclaimed. He leaned over and removed the mask to find a young red-headed man with his pale brown eyes dilated. "There are no discernable markings on this man, except for this plain ANBU mask."

"That is a mark of Konoha's ROOT force." Kakuzu replied blandly. "Led by a man named Danzo, a veteran of both the war between Konoha and Iwa as well as the Kyuubi attack. However, he is not as hidden as he believes he is."

"It is unfortunate that he did not train better ninja. Jashin is getting impatient." Hidan retorted.

"That is not our concern now. We should find a new hiding place and contact Leader-sama. He will want to know what we found." Kakuzu stated as he turned to the north, walking to one of the Akatsuki's safe houses.

"This better be worth it." Hidan grumbled as he followed behind. For some reason, he had a cold chill come up his spine as his partner mentioned what he found. Surely nothing bad can happen to the Immortals.

**

* * *

Konoha Main Gate**

Nara Shikamaru was finishing his equipment check. The lazy genius that he was took his time, but with more determination than usual. The demise of his sensei hit him hard and he took to training this past week with more flair than ever before. The same could be said for his teammates. Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji intensified their training in hopes to avenge their sensei of three years, Sarutobi Asuma.

Ino usually was more concerned with her looks, like the blond bombshell that she was, while Chouji typically was concerned with eating. This week was not the case and now they were ready.

As Shikamaru sheathed his new trench knives, buckled his sandals, and pocketed his sensei's old lighter, he was called out by his teammates.

"Hey Shikamaru," Chouji started.

"Are you ready?" Ino finished.

"Hai. Let's move out." Shikamaru stated.

As the trio turned and approached the threshold of the gates, a commanding male voice called out from behind.

"STOP!!"

The trio turned as was slightly shocked. In front of them was the temporary sensei for Team Kakashi, Yamato.

"Why are you stopping us, Yamato-san? We still have our standing orders to pursue the Akatsuki members in Fire Country." Ino asked slightly agitated.

"New orders from the Hokage. Pack for an escort mission. You are to accompany Team Kakashi and myself to Wave Country." Yamato ordered.

Shikamaru let out a sigh and reached for a cigarette. He lit it and held it between pursed lips. "The objects that fell from the sky changed our orders didn't they?"

"Sharp as ever, Nara-san. Meet back here in one hour. Dismissed." Yamato replied as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Ino and Chouji held a disappointed look as they glanced to their teammate and unspoken leader. Shikamaru was always the smartest of the trio and the first of them to make Chuunin. Every time they had a difficult spot or critical decision, he always came through with a plan.

"You heard him." Shikamaru stated plainly as he put out his cigarette. "Get packing for an escort mission."

Ino stared at her teammate incredulously. "What about those Akatsuki bastards? We can't let them get away!"

"There will be more opportunities. It is doubtful that they will not come again for the person they want here in Konoha. As troublesome as waiting is going to be, their true objective is here and we will be here waiting for them to reappear. We got our orders and we should follow them." Shikamaru replied. The trio trudged off after those words were said.

Internally, Shikamaru already pieced together their intentions. Between the assault in Suna from the two Akatsuki members on the Kagekaze and the attack by Uchiha Itachi and his partner Hoshigaki Hisame, they seemed to be constantly after 'unique' individuals. From the evidence he seen, it is not hard to figure that they were after Uzumaki Naruto. His actions annotated in mission reports and eye-witnesses during three separate events shown how 'unique' Naruto was. Being near Team Kakashi gives them more opportunities to bring their targets down.

'_Sensei, we will get that guy for you and stick near Naruto until we do.' _Shikamaru mused glancing up at the clouds in the sky.

* * *

Kakashi made his way to the residence of his first teammate. Haruno Sakura lived with her mother, Piichi, in a flat located in one of the middle-class residential areas of Konoha. Her father died during the Kyuubi attack years ago, but she was not without stories of the man from her mother. 

When the team was originally formed, she was just a fan-girl with no true ninja skill other than her intellect. This changed years ago when the guy she had a crush over, Uchiha Sasuke, was corrupted by a seal given to him by the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. Ever since his betrayal of the leaf, and Naruto's injuries from the failed mission to retrieve him, Sakura became determined to increase her skill.

In the almost three years since, she trained under the Slug Sannin and Godaime, Tsunade. That training increased her chakra stores, her strength and stamina, as well as honed her healing capabilities. Now she was almost as formidable as the Sannin herself and made rank of Chuunin to show for it.

Unfortunately, this made Kakashi a bit worried. It seemed that there was no one he really trained other than the traitorous Uchiha. Yes, he occasionally trained Naruto, but he really didn't do too much. Previously, it was just Sasuke and how he seemed like his long-since dead teammate that made Kakashi blind to the needs of his other Genin teammates. Now with the events of recent note, Kakashi rarely got a chance to train either of his remaining teammates. Both of them were apprentices of Sannin.

It was that fact that made Kakashi pause before knocking on Sakura's door. Did he do enough for Sakura and Naruto? With the death of Asuma, on of the three senseis of the Rookie Nine, it may be his turn to give his life. If that is so, did he leave enough of himself behind in those two, like Asuma did in Shikamaru and in Kurenai's unborn child? He didn't think so, but if he had the chance during or after this mission, he resolved to make up for lost time.

Inside the apartment, Sakura had just finished getting ready for another day at the Konoha hospital to sharpen her medical skills. After the injuries she saw Naruto had at the hands of Sasuke, Sakura made a vow to be stronger for both their sakes. After the years of training under Tsunade, she was quite the medical ninja. She even picked up her master's tremendous strength to augment her taijutsu.

Inside, she knew it was still not enough as she gazed upon the team photo that she had. From the last mission she had, Sasuke was still too strong and bullheaded to want to come home and Naruto still hurt himself.

'_Somehow, someway, I will become strong enough. When I do, I will be able to bring Sasuke-kun home and Naruto won't be hurt trying.' Sakura thought._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. "Who could that be? No one usually comes by here but Ino." She out of her bedroom and over to the front door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see Kakashi-sensei ready to go on a mission.

"Oii, Sakura. Tsunade-sama has given us a mission. We have an escort mission back to Wave along Yamato-taicho and team eight. Meet us at the gates at the top of the hour." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Great, I didn't really feel like going to the hospital today anyways. Will we have time to see Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"That is our destination. Tazuna was the one requesting the escort for a visitor of his. Now get packing. I will see you at the gates." Kakashi answered then leaped away in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

'_It must be someone of importance if they need all of an ANBU captain, two Jounin, three Chuunin and Naruto to escort someone. Either that or Tsunade-sama is worried about another Akatsuki attack on Naruto and Naruto was requested for this mission.' Sakura mused as she went to pack. 'Either way, hopefully this will be a smoother mission than the last time to Wave.'_

* * *

As Naruto and Kakashi were walking to the main gate, they saw the rest of their mission team waiting for them. Yamato was trying to calm down Ino and Sakura, who were in an argument again, like every other time they got together. Shikamaru was leaning against the wall looking up at the clouds and Chouji was sitting next to them, eating some deer jerky that Shikamaru gave him. Sai sat to the side drawing the confrontation between Ino and Sakura. 

"Kakashi-sensei, do we really need backup on this mission? Wasn't this supposed to be a simple escort job?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You know as well as I do that there are too many variables going on right now. With that Akatsuki pair running around nearby and those unknown objects, we can't be too careful. As we speak, everyone else is being pulled back to the village, including Jiraiya-sama and twenty squads out hunting." Kakashi briefed Naruto.

"What about team ten? Should they being going out right now?" Naruto inquired quietly as they approached, worried about his longtime friend Shikamaru.

"It would be better if they traveled with us instead of going off alone. Remember Sasuke?" Kakashi stated softly as they arrived at the gate.

Naruto knew what he was referring to. Sasuke left the team and village in betrayal, just to gain power for his own need for revenge. He didn't want to see his friend fall into that trap, even though deep down he knew Shikamaru was too smart to try that. Anyway, he felt he needed to talk to him.

"Ooi, Shikamaru. Are you doing alright? Feel up for this?" Naruto asked approaching the Nara.

"Hai. I'll be fine Naruto. I appreciate the concern." Shikamaru replied not looking away from a lone cloud that drifted overhead.

"I wish I had more time with Asuma. He seemed like a very wise sensei. I appreciated the help he gave me with using Futon-based jutsus." Naruto replied wistfully. He never really got the chance to work with him more, even though he wanted to since he was a fellow Futon user.

"I think he knew. He could tell by how enthusiastic you were." Shikamaru replied remembering that day. It was during the middle of their last Shoji match. After Naruto left following the demonstration, Asuma made note of how enthusiastic he was and actually wanted to give him some more pointers. "Maybe I can see if he had some Futon scrolls left with Kurenai-sensei or Konohamaru."

"I'd like that a lot." Naruto stated smiling. "If you need anything, just let me know, even if it may be too troublesome to ask." Shikamaru simply nodded in return.

**

* * *

Outskirts of Fire Country – Nighttime**

Kakuzu and Hidan found a cave a few leagues away and sat in a meditative state. Reaching out with their minds, they projected their astral selves to an unknown location. There upon the fingertips of a great stone statue, the projections of the seven other members of their team were standing. At one time, there had been ten members of the Akatsuki. Orochimaru was the tenth member but left the organization to accomplish his own goals. One of their members, Sasori of the Red Sands, died shortly after the sealing of the Ichibi Shukaku. Luckily, a new member, Tobi, joined their group fully after a successful capture of the three tailed turtle.

On the thumb of the left hand was a projection of a spiky haired man with ringed eyes. Typically he was the ones who called the meetings, but Kakuzu had urgent news to report.

"What was so urgent to call this meeting?" the man asked in a dark echoing voice.

"We have discovered an interesting object. On our way to Konoha to capture the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Kitsune, a red horn-shaped crystal was found. From a league away, the power of the aura it held was immense. I have sealed in a scroll. While obtaining this crystal, we were attacked by one of Danzo's ROOT, Leader-sama. Hidan dispatched him easily."

"You think this crystal is important enough to postpone your mission?" the Leader asked expectantly.

"Between the power of the aura and who was after it, I would believe so." Kakuzu replied simply.

"Very well. Bring it to me." He ordered and terminated the meeting.

Hidan looked at his partner curiously. "Why are we abandoning the mission? Don't you want that bounty on the jinchuuriki's head?"

"We can get him later." Kakuzu stated. "I want to get this object to Leader-sama. I don't like how it feels."

Hidan frowned but nodded and stood up. Anything that was a worry to Kakuzu could not be good but they both were confident in the Leader's abilities. Surely he could use the crystal. If they knew what would happen in the next few days, they would have buried that scroll.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer time: In no way shape and from do I won Naruto or Diablo. This story does have a few original characters which I do own.**

**Warning: From here on out, this story may become a bit violent. If anyone reading this thinks I may start to rate the story under the wrong ranking, let me know.**

* * *

A few leagues away from where the two Akatsuki members were having their meeting, a pair of men garbed in plain black armor strode towards their next target. The two ROOT agents didn't have time to mourn for their comrade that had just died – they had a mission to complete. The impact site for the second object was just over the next ridge and they did not want to fail Danzo a second time.

As the duo moved from shadow to moonlight shadow, the feeling of hatred grew in them. They were trained to remove emotions from an early age in order to be the perfect shinobi, but the object they were tracking now seemed to awaken those suppressed feelings with every step closer to the target.

One of them, a tall wiry fellow with no hair coming from behind his mask, seemed to be straining to keep his reserve. His partner, an athletic and tall woman with her black hair done in a ponytail, was more reserved. She originally joined ROOT a month prior to the Kyuubi attack when she was approached by one of Danzo's scouts. Her abilities to charge metallic objects with explosive chakra earned her the nickname, Shrapnel Maiden, and he wanted her abilities in the organization. She readily agreed seeing that the Yondaime was not going to be around forever and any way to gain strength would be a value to a village heavily reliant on his skills and intimidation factor.

During her time under Danzo's charge, she honed her skills and developed a cold and calculating nature. She never failed a mission for ROOT and it pushed her standing in the organization towards the top. Each number an agent was assigned equated to the rank within the organization. She just recently became Agent Three after her successful mission planting evidence of a diversionary nature for the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, to find. Now with the feeling of disgust and hatred growing in her partner, she started to plan in case he went berserk. There was no way she would fail this mission of such importance to Danzo-sama, for she knew agents never got lower in rank. They just disappeared.

The pair reached the zenith of the ridge and found an interesting sight. There was an impact crater, but in comparison to the list site, there was no charring. Instead, a charge filled the air, as if it was electrified. There was a blue aura from the crater and it seemed the hatred flowed from it. She looked over to her partner and noticed he shed his mask. The feeling of contempt and hatred was etched on his face.

'_Truly this must be an object of extraordinary power if it can influence the minds of even a trained agent.' _She thought to herself as she walked down to the crater. _'However, I can't shake this feeling of tremendous evil from it. Best to lock it up before someone unsavory gets their hands on this.'_

She pulled out a sealing scroll as she stepped inside the crater. Inside she spotted the blue crystal glowing brightly, bathing the area with its spiteful energy. It was shaped like a bony finger and looked like death itself wouldn't claim it. She steeled her mind from the contempt the object was trying to conjure in her soul and reached for the object with a gloved hand.

_THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!_

Stopping her from grabbing the object were three foot long skewers dripping with some greenish fluid. Spinning around, she saw the enraged visage of her former teammate and current opponent, Agent Four. He was holding out his hands with new skewers starting to poke out from under his bent wrists.

"Hands off that, you wench!" The man said with pure malice. "You will not be stealing another rank that I should have had!"

"What are you talking about?" Three asked. "We are under orders to get this to Danzo-sama. Clear your head. This object is affecting you."

"Enough, wench! I will kill you and become Agent Three and when I take the object for myself, I will lead ROOT, not Danzo! He never recognized me over you. Now you will both PAY!!"

A pair of skewers launched from his wrists which she easily dodged. Quickly she grabbed the crystal and leaped out of the crater, just as another volley of skewers landed where she once stood. It took complete effort to avoid the constant bombardment from Four's skewers. She managed to get over the ridge and seal the crystal in the scroll. From behind her, she could hear a violent scream come from Four as he raced up the ridge after her.

Three used Shunshin to teleport back to the crater. Noticing that Four was slow to turn back around, she issued a mental command to release her chakra restraints. Just then, Four sensed her behind him and turned to see the after image of Three standing in the crater.

All he heard and felt before his armor exploded was a tap to his chest plate and a whisper in the wind. **"Nenshou Kinzoku Shinsei (Burning Metal Nova)."**

A few hundred meters away, Agent Three placed the scroll in her pouch and let out a long breath she didn't know she held in. Taking a few seconds, she found a tree and leaped up to sit on its sturdiest branch.

'_Usually Four is not like that. He is quieter and more subtle in his movements and attacks. His style was more of stealth and cunning. He typically would wait and lurk in shadows then hit his target with his skewers, letting his naturally produced poison kill them quickly. Instead he attacked violently and without provocation.'_

After digesting her thoughts, she stood and started leaping from branch to branch. She still had a mission to complete, but she was worried if the mission actually was worth carrying out. If anything, she would rely on Danzo-sama's skills and intellect to be able to handle the crystal.

* * *

Ever since the bridge was dedicated, things looked up for the small island known as Wave Country. Trade goods and travelers flocked from various neighboring countries and the economy soared. No longer were there people hungry in the streets and children begging and stealing food in the village near the bridge. Even though the fishing industry was still their main source of income, the increase of tourism and trade allowed people to pick up new professions and positions of prestige.

This included the famous bridge builder, Tazuna. His construction skills became readily needed throughout the local village. New shops, schools, and other buildings needed to be built. With Tsunami's skills at being a hostess as well as the money coming from the construction business, he remodeled their modest house into a large bed and breakfast cottage. Its fifteen large rooms were rather quaint and comfortable and became a known refuge for weary travelers, including ninjas coming and going near the area on missions.

For now, those rooms were occupied by the group of heroes from Sanctuary. The next morning, Alexia was the last to wake. She was not used to the accommodations yet, even though it was more comfortable than the bedrolls they used around the campfire in Harrogath. Each room had a decent full bed, a small table with a lamp, dresser, and a simple bath. It may have not been the suites given to them by the ruler of Lut Gholein, but it would do. Just the ability to take a decent bath did wonders to lessen the aches in her muscles.

After a warm bath, she decided to dress without her armor. She instead wore black and red pants, a loose black blouse with a single red stripe down the side, a simple silver studded belt, and her black leather heeled boots. She made her way downstairs to where the dining room was. It was a rather large room with two long carved wooden tables. The walls were an ocean blue in color with pictures of sea life adorning them. The floor was polished wood with a large tan and red rug. There were buffet trays filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, hash browns, fruit, and bread over on one table and the rest of her team along with Cain, Tazuna and his family seated at the other.

'_Amazing. Even though it was just a simple bed, it was comfortable enough for me to sleep past everyone else. Usually I am the first to wake. I must have needed the rest.' _She mused as she grabbed a plate and heaped eggs, fruit, and hash browns on it.

"Morning, Alexia. I trust you had a decent rest?" Mia inquired as their leader sat down next to her.

Alexia turned to notice that none of her team was dressed in their armor anymore. The blonde Amazon had her hair in a pony tail and was sporting a red halter top that hugged her plentiful assets and tan leather pants that had a couple slights on the outside of her thighs. She also wore lace up tan leather boots. The dark-skinned Paladin wore a green tunic and brown slacks with a brown belt and simple gray shoes. Selene wore a royal purple dress that stopped just above the knee and had a modest neckline. She also wore two amethyst rings on her left hand and accentuated everything with amethyst stiletto heels. Baerach and Cain were the only ones that still dressed rather normally. The elder sage had his gray cloak, tunic and traveling pants with brown sandals. The burly Druid wore a fur-lined leather a-shirt, which accentuated his massive frame, brown leather pants and fur-lined hiking boots.

"I guess this is the first time in a long while that we managed to sit down and have a meal without worry about heading out to battle." Alexia stated before she took a bite of her eggs. "Thanks for cooking this great meal, Tsunami."

"Anything for our valued guests. Feel free to eat your fill." She replied as she smiled. A cook always appreciates his or her cuisine being well received.

"Has any word been sent from Konoha?" Alexia asked.

"It seems they sent a team out to meet us. They should be here in two more days." Cain replied before sipping from his cup of warm tea.

"You mentioned your group usually headed out to battle after a meal. Was the fighting that often?" Tazuna asked.

"It was a long and arduous struggle over two continents, which even stretched into the bowels of Hell itself." Anstrum informed their hosts.

Inari and Tazuna proceeded to pepper their guests with a litany of questions regarding the demons and undead beasts they fought, towns they visited, and the treasures and other wonders they found. It took two hours to finish the tale. Throughout the story, the young boy had visions of his own glory, fighting back beasts and bandits in order to protect the ones he cared for. He initially gain this dream from seeing his proclaimed brother, Naruto, who not only saved Wave Country by helping to vanquish the bandits hired by the tycoon Gato, but also rescued his mother from two vicious thugs. Now, after hearing this story, he wanted to get started on his training. Still, his mother still wanted him around the house to help run the bed and breakfast and he couldn't start his dream unless he had some help.

* * *

Many leagues away, the mood was split between the members of the joint escort squad. The remaining members of Team Ten were both steaming that they could not pursue the criminals that killed their sensei, as well as bored being stuck on a simple escort mission. Naruto and Sakura were ecstatic that they would be seeing their friends that they made on the first mission outside of the gates of Konoha so many years ago. With the remaining members of the group were quiet and contemplative. For the artistic ninja, Sai, that was nothing new. Most times, Kakashi and Yamato were quiet as well, but this time they were reflecting on Naruto's reiteration of what the Kyuubi had informed him.

The two veterans were used to having the odds stacked against them. It couldn't be helped with the constant pressure from the Akatsuki and the Sound ever since Orochimaru forced Sarutobi-sama to sacrifice his own life to stop his wayward student. There was added uncertainty with the arrival of these objects, whatever they were. Combine that with the loss of Asuma and the pressure was higher than ever before. Both of the former ANBU members knew how valuable information was at a time like this and if this Deckard Cain could give it to the Hokage, then it was worth it.

As it was, the group was on the move since morning light and it was now midday. The silver-haired Jounin looked over the team and saw them slightly ragged and everyone needing either a break or a small meal.

"Let's stop for a moment. Take thirty and grab water and a snack." Kakashi called out.

"Why Kakashi-sensei? There is still over a day and a half distance between us and Wave. We could pick up the pace a bit." Naruto whined eager to see what became of his first clients, especially Inari. He visited him once during his travels with Ero-Sennin, as he so lovingly called Jiraiya. His little brother, in nothing but spirit, expressed a desire to become a ninja like he was so Naruto left instructions for the tree climbing and water walking exercises. Knowing he was going to see him again, maybe he could train him a bit.

"You may have world-class stamina, Naruto-baka, but some of us need a break." Ino scolded her temporary teammate. Her feet were tired from the long march over the last six hours and wanted a break.

"Ino is right. No army marches on an empty stomach. We aren't in any danger right now and it would be too troublesome to bother rushing this. Relax, will you?" Shikamaru replied.

Naruto grumbled to himself as he set down his pack and rummaged for an instant ramen cup. Yamato saw this and tossed Naruto a spare ration bar he had. He looked at it curiously then glanced at its former owner.

"Why did you toss me this? I packed enough ramen for me to eat."

Sakura came up and slugged Naruto in the shoulder. "You do know we are not staying long enough to make a fire, right?"

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and took the bar, leaving the ramen in his pack. "Gomen, Sakura-chan. I guess that is why you are baachan's apprentice. Arigato, Yamato-sensei."

Sakura just shook her head and walked over to a small log and fished for a pouch of strawberries she had. Ino took the time to sit down next to her.

"I guess Naruto still is the same baka we knew before." Ino mentioned to her long time friend.

"He does have his moments, but there are times where he will still surprise you." the medic-nin replied. She turned to her blonde friend and saw her watching Naruto sniff and tentatively nibble at the ration bar. "Why are you watching him?"

Ino quickly looked away and started looking in her pack for anything of substance. "What makes you think I am interested in Naruto?"

"You were just staring at him like a piece of meat." she whispered to her.

"I was not." the mind-walker replied sneaking another glance at the fox teen. "Even thought he does look more handsome now."

"Naruto is handsome?? You got to be kidding?"

"I'm serious. I saw him when he was looking for a third teammate. He does look a lot better now that he's gotten taller."

Sakura took another look at her long time teammate and actually noticed how much better he looked now. He wasn't the squirt he was before and didn't constantly bug her for dates, but that could be due to the constant training and missions they were on. There was still the playful look about him, but he also had a serious side that she saw during the last two missions they were on. Plus when he had his jacket unzipped, he looked... like a normal person.

"Maybe he would look better if we got rid of that orange." Sakura vocalized her musings to her friend.

"Think we should sneak him off to a shop while in Wave or when we get back to Konoha?" Ino inquired, thinking about how he would look in different outfits. Her fashion sense was in overdrive as soon as the idea was spoken.

"Not a bad idea, but what about Hinata? You know she has been watching our knucklehead since the Academy." Sakura replied.

"That may be true, but it doesn't mean a girl can't have her fun." Ino remarked. "Anyways, maybe it will help push her along. I heard she fainted twice when he tried to recruit one of the team eight members."

"Yeah but that happens all the time, Ino. She always seemed to give signs that she adored him but he is so clueless."

Ino sighed and pulled out a ration bar to eat while Sakura started to munch on her strawberries.

_'Why is it that that perfect guy isn't in the village anymore? Sai is cute but emotionally cut off. Shikamaru has a thing with that girl from the Suna, but is too lazy to admit it. Kiba is as much of a dog as Akamaru is. Neji is hung up on Ten-ten which leaves Naruto, the clueless one. He probably wouldn't know romance if it hit him in the head.' _Ino surmised. _'He still is handsome with those whisker marks and that smile of his.'_

Sakura was going through similar musings. _'She is right. He has turned out to be better looking than anyone thought he would be. He also is very strong and always looking out for everyone, even those he just met. Unfortunately, he is no Sasuke-kun, but no one really is. I just hope there is something left of my Sasuke when we get him back.'_

The two were broken out of their thoughts by the call to pack up by the Mouton master. Following a few minutes time to pack up and stretch, the group was on their way again toward their destination.

* * *

Later that evening, Agent Three made it to the hidden bowels of ROOT Headquarters. She wandered through the darkened halls as she analyzed the events that occurred up to her arrival.

The encounter with the two Akatsuki members that already brought the demise of Sarutobi Asuma, former member of the Twelve Guardians, left much to be desired. Agent Five was picked off easily as he tried to sneak in close for a silent kill on the zealot. With the odds evened, they knew that the duo were no match for the S-class criminals.

The subsequent corruption and betrayal by Agent Four weighed on her mind as well. If the third object was anything like the previous two, it would have tried to influence her. The crystal finger she carried was hard enough to deal with in itself. It also didn't help matters that the objects trajectory landed it perilously close to the Sound Village.

There was a concern that the effect that the object forced onto her prior teammate would make its presence felt here. It had a sentient feel and that worried her.

_'It is probable that Danzo-sama would be able to handle the effect from this crystal, but what about the rest of ROOT? If they fell under its influence, would we be able to handle it?' _She thought as she grasped the scroll the object was contained in. '_It would be best for me to hand this directly over, then Danzo-sama and I can plan this out safely.'_

The Shrapnel Maiden wove her way though the corridors until she came upon his office. There were two guards that were present and noticed her immediately. They tensed slightly and then stepped in front of the steel doors to block her path.

"Remove your mask and state your business." One of the guards commanded with a soft but firm voice.

"I am Three," She replied removing her mask, "and I have come to deliver what I was sent to retrieve. Is Danzo-sama in?"

The guards immediately recognized her. There was no mistaking her obsidian hair done in a long pony tail, or her piercing green eyes, or even the edge of her tattoo that peaked out on the corner of her neck. Even her athletic but well proportioned figure fell under the guard's appreciative gaze.

It was hard not to notice the lingering look he was giving her and became annoyed. She always has dealt with people in ROOT leering at her. Just the wandering eyes of a guard or a fellow agent were enough to disgust her. Typically she would just ignore the perverted ways of those men, but the crystal was affecting her judgment.

"I am not going to be dating or letting you in my pants any time soon, so how about you let me see him _sometime today_." She pointed out emphasizing her distaste for the moment. It threw the guard off and made him slightly mad. In his head, he started hearing voices convincing him to slap her around and get her on her knees before him.

All of those thoughts were snapped with a voice coming from a speaker above the door.

"Let her in."

Hearing the command to the guards, Three strode forward and pushed the guard out of the way. She gave the guard an angry look before opening the door and walked in. In her mind, she was trying to fight down the urge to punch the guard. She knew it was the crystal affecting her and now had a desire to be rid of the monstrosity.

His office looked more like a command room. The walls were made of concrete and undecorated. There was a rug on the floor in front of a marble-top desk. There Danzo sat behind in a large padded chair with two oil lamps on metal stands behind him. Along one wall was a board listing the number of agents. Strangely, both names of Agent Four and Five were crossed out. That was something to note. He already knew the agents were dead and it unnerved her. She filed that for later.

"Danzo-sama, Agent Three reporting in with one of the objects. Agent Four and Five are dead." She informed the ROOT Leader, handing him the scroll.

He instantly opened the scroll and grasped the object in his left hand. Danzo narrowed his eyes and seemed to flex his right hand inside the sling and wrappings that were present as his free hand caressed the crystal. He obtained those injuries during the Kyuubi battle and was a constant reminder of that dreadful day.

"Tell me about the manner of their deaths." He ordered.

"Five died trying to obtain the first object. The two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, who took down Sarutobi Asuma, grabbed the red object. He tried to sneak up on Hidan and disable him but the target quickly impaled him with his scythe. Numbers were not in our favor so we went to the next objective."

"He was a promising agent. Knew the value of stealth and efficient killing. Continue with the briefing, Three."

"We approached the second object and came across an aura of hatred projected from it. It was tangible and affected the behavior of Four. I approached the object and examined it. It was a crystal shaped like a bone finger, which you are now holding. I took out a scroll and was going to seal the crystal in it, but was attacked by Four. He was enraged and practically needed the crystal. We fought briefly and I dispatched him. I had already tracked the trajectory of the final object, but it is too close to the Sound Village for a lone agent to retrieve." She informed her leader. She noticed through the briefing that his facial expression twitched from time to time, but let it go as just her imagination.

\\\\\

Inside his mind, Danzo found himself in a dimly lit cave. The rock walls of the cave were glowing with runes written in an unknown language. The smell of sulfur and burning flesh filled the air and the screams of madness invaded his senses. He started to walk down the cave towards a faint blue light.

Danzo wandered for what seemed an endless amount of time before he caught glimpse of a bubbling cauldron with a monstrous hovering figure waiving at it with bony clawed hands. The great beast had no legs to speak of and seemed to be flowing on a bluish mist. The spine grew from the mist and connected to the beast's torso. Its skin appeared slimy and taught like a shark. The head was connected by a very thin neck that seemed to only be a small mass of fiber. Its head was oval in shape and stretched from the sides. There was only a small mouth with a couple razor sharp fangs showing and two tiny nostrils above the mouth, as if they were punctured into the skull. The eyes were stretched as well, giving them a slanted appearance. Two thick horns adorned the top of the head framing the few wiry long strands of black hair it had.

The smell from the cauldron was intoxicating. Taking in a large breath, the scent fueled Danzo as if he was on an adrenaline drip. His muscles felt on fire and his heart raced. The scent itself almost reeked of power and dominance. Danzo's thoughts suddenly raced through instances of what he perceived as dishonor and betrayal. With each thought, a dark and maniacal voice rang out though the cave.

He again saw the Third instate Namikaze Minato as his successor.

"_**You were a better leader than that sentimental fool. You were slighted by the old buffoon."**_

He saw the Kyuubi attack and the sealing of the great beast inside Naruto. He then saw his attempts to take the child in to become a living weapon for the village thwarted by the Third.

"_**You were ignored and denied the opportunity to protect the village. Your wisdom was scoffed by your peers."**_

He saw him being ordered to disband his ROOT forces, his special forces specifically designed for the safety of Konoha.

"_**Your life's work was seen as traitorous and criminal. You were never appreciated for your efforts."**_

He saw he was overlooked again by the elders and the council when both of the remaining loyal Sannin were chosen over him for the role of Hokage.

"_**It should be you leading this village, molding it in your image."**_

Danzo looked into the eyes of the beast and shouted.

"YES!! I WAS DENIED, BETRAYED, AND MINIMIZED! SANDAIME MOCKED ME AND CALLED ME A TRAITOR! THE COUNCIL DIDN'T EVEN SEE I WAS THE MOST WORTHY OF BEING HOKAGE!!!"

The rage built up from years of perceived betrayal and dishonor was now evident on his face and the beast relished it. The glow from the cauldron grew in intensity and the beast grew in size. It looked down at him and peered into his soul, seeing the darkness dwelling there, fueled by misguided intentions. Overjoyed with what it saw, the beast knew it found its host.

"_**You want to make things right. To take control and weed out the weak."**_

"Yes I do. The tree must grow strong."

"_**Do you accept your hatred for the fools in the Council, the Godaime, and Naruto?"**_

"I do. They will pay for their slights on my honor. The Council will fall and be molded in my image. Tsunade will be thrown aside like the garbage she is and the Yondaime's legacy will either become my weapon or destroyed."

The beast brought forth a brass goblet with a waive of its hand. It floated in the air and dipped into the cauldron, filling it with the blue bubbling liquid. The goblet floated over to Danzo and settled into his awaiting hands. He looked down at the liquid and back up to the beast.

"_**Then accept the gift of my blessing. Accept the power built from your hatred. Accept the power of Mephisto!"**_ The hovering form said with a sickly smile.

Danzo looked back at the liquid and brought it to his lips, greedily drinking it down. His body felt on fire and seemed to glow with a bluish light. All of a sudden, he felt himself violently change. He saw his hands start to become translucent and smoky. He observed the rest of his body undergoing these changes and looked up at the beast expectantly. Mephisto smiled back down at him and inhaled the smoky visage of Danzo.

"_**Let the Hatred flow!"**_

\\\\\

As the Shrapnel Maiden finished her briefing, a small blue flash appeared in Danzo's eyes. She thought it was her imagination until she felt the overwhelming sense of hatred flowing from her leader. It took all of her will to remain standing, but she was extremely nauseous.

Her nausea was compounded when Danzo took his injured right hand and bit off the index finger with a sickening crunch, spitting the severed digit to the floor. Blood dripped freely from the wound until he jammed the crystal into the newly opened socket on his hand. At that moment, an explosion of blue light raced out from Danzo's eyes, nose and mouth, filling the entirety of his headquarters.

He started to float on the air and his skin was bubbling, the remaining bandages on his head and arm discarded. There was a sickening crunch as his bones were broken as his body started to reshape.

For Agent Three, she knew there was no other choice. She was no longer Agent Three and was now just a Konoha shinobi. In that aspect, she knew she had to do something about the maddening power the changing form of Danzo radiated. She couldn't beat this form on her own, so she ran.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: There is no ownership of anything Diablo or Naruto related. However, my five heroes of Sanctuary are all mine.**

* * *

During each Hokage's time in office, the tower underwent changes similar to the nature of the person filling the position. The Shodaime was the chief architect of the tower; most of it was his design and it reflected his ideals of both strength and constant growth. He also included an area for a sapling to grow inside the walls.

The Nidaime added a koi pond to the area and would spend hours taking a break from the emerging paperwork flow to relax under the tree that was starting to take shape. Sarutobi added a couple of tables with benches near the koi pond to use as a place to study. During the Yondaime's reign, the training posts were added off to the side so he could vent his frustrations over a war that seemingly never ended, either with real enemies or ones made of paper. When Sarutobi picked up the mantle the second time, the area was expanded and plans were in the works for a small sleeping quarters. Unfortunately, those plans didn't come to fruition until Tsunade took the role of Konoha's steward and chief protector. For her, it was out of necessity since her grandfather's and uncle's estates were destroyed during the Sand/Sound invasion.

The simple cottage was enough for the Slug Sannin and her assistant to live comfortably. It was not lavish by any means, but its two bedrooms, simple kitchen, study, and indoor onsen was enough for the two. Not many others besides Tsunade and Shizune ever stepped foot in the place. That list was limited to the occasional ANBU that woke her up for any urgent late night business or when Sakura stayed over after an intense session during her apprenticeship.

This night, an eerie feeling spread over the ANBU that were on guard nearby. It gradually grew until a flash of blue light shone a small distance away, centered near the western edge of the tower. Instantly, an ANBU captain observed the light grow only to flicker away and immediately took action. She raised her hand and at that signal and three other ANBU members clad in black armor appeared in flanking positions near her. With a set of hand signs, the captain in a dragon mask along with a man in an eagle mask took off to the cottage. The ANBU in the wolf mask sprinted toward the source of the light with another in a bear mask, while a second team replaced the originals as sentries.

Wolf, with her long dark hair flowing, landed near a clearing at the far western edge of the Hokage Tower complex. Before her on the ground was a man-sized grate.

'_Interesting. This was never present before. The light and whatever wicked energy that came with it must have dispelled a genjutsu covering it.'_ She thought as Bear scanned the area for enemies. After clearing the area, he pried open the grate and the duo dropped down the shaft.

The fall was slightly extensive which forced the duo to slow their descent by bracing themselves against the walls of the shaft with their feet and forcing small amounts of chakra from them. Upon landing side by side, Wolf and Bear could sense an overwhelming stench of malice flowing through the passageway. The passage itself was dimly lit and made out of simple stone.

Suddenly sounds of moaning, growling and other chaotic noise filled the air from their left. It started faintly at first but grew along with sounds of explosions and running approaching them. Both Wolf and Bear nodded to each other and unsealed pistol-like launchers from a pouch on their belts. Each person fired a simple hook and line from the pistol back up the shaft. After the lines were secured, they disengaged the lines from the pistols and attached it to harnesses in their belts. Shortly afterwards, the two ANBU waited for the attack to come as they noticed the sounds growing stronger.

It took only a few seconds for a woman with her hair in a messy ponytail to appear, launching kunai at an unknown assailant. With a simple sign each kunai exploded, only to be followed by sounds of splattering flesh and shrieks of pain. She didn't take any time to rest or gloat over her victory as her pursuers made themselves visible.

A pair of dark robed individuals appeared floating inches above the floor. Each one was carrying a staff in their left hand. Their heads were bald and their brains partially visible. The skin was gaunt and pale on their cheeks and long fangs protruded from their chapped lips. Their hands were bony in appearance and long nails from each fingertip were angular and sharp. With little hesitation, they waived their hands and staves. Behind the two ANBU, a wall of fire appeared, covering the escape route.

The Shrapnel Maiden thought she was at the end of her rope. She flung her last four kunai, each charged with her chakra and performed the Nenshou Kinzoku Shinsei on each one as they struck their targets. With a satisfying sound of splattering flesh and resounding explosions, she relaxed slightly only to find the two apparitions that were her colleagues at one time cast a familiar jutsu she barely avoided before. She turned to see the two ANBU behind her and the wall of demonic flame bursting to life.

"ANBU, we need to get out of here and report to Hokage-sama. Danzo has been possessed." She informed the duo frantically standing over by their side.

Wolf looked her over and noticed something familiar. She recognized the jutsu she used from the explosions and the kunai was something her old Academy sensei could do. The voice clinched her suspicions and she nodded to Bear. The man grabbed a hold of the Maiden as Wolf launched a couple kunai with exploding tags into the assailants. The ANBU flicked a seal on their harnesses and the trio rose along the lines as the passageway was filled with explosions from the tags.

Reaching the surface, the trio leapt away as the malice from the passageway seemed to also be present in the air. After a couple of minutes, they reached the cottage where they found both the Hokage and her assistant already awake and guarded by their captain, Dragon, as well as Eagle.

Dragon tensed as she noticed who was with her teammates. "What are you doing here, Aki?"

The former ROOT Agent twitched slightly, betraying her emotions as she instantly recognized the ANBU that addressed her. However, now was not the time for pleasant or unpleasant reunions.

"Hokage-sama, I have dire news to report about Danzo and his ROOT."

Tsunade looked over towards her ANBU captain. She prided herself on knowing all of the personnel in the village, but the person in front of her was an unknown. "You know this person?"

"This happens to be Mitarashi Akiri, otherwise known as the Shrapnel Maiden. I have not personally seen this person since a month before the Kyuubi attack." Dragon responded with coldness befitting her position. However, she was schooling her emotions. Next to the pain her first sensei forced upon her, the disappearance of Akiri was the most traumatic experience in her life.

"Very well. Akiri, continue your report." Tsunade curtly ordered.

"I was originally Agent Three in ROOT's ANBU force. I, along with Agents Four and Five, was sent by Danzo to acquire the objects that fell from the sky just days ago."

"The same objects the Kyuubi warned Naruto about??" Shizune interrupted.

"It appears so. What did Danzo want with the objects?" the blonde Hokage inquired

As the Shrapnel Maiden went through her report, Tsunade's brow furrowed at various thoughts running in her mind. An object that can affect the state of mind of anyone in the area, even an emotionless ROOT ANBU, was not to be taken lightly. The fact that another one of these objects fell into the hands of the same Akatsuki that killed Asuma and were also after Naruto was hard to stomach. Finally, with one of the objects within the borders of an enemy nation made it seem as if the cards were stacked against Konoha.

'_I guess that omen was not slight in the least.'_ The blonde Hokage mused as thoughts of a long battle lurked in her mind.

She broke out of her contemplation as Wolf took the opportunity to speak up. "But how does that explain those people down in the tunnel??"

"Tunnel? What tunnel are you talking about?" the Godaime inquired curiously.

"When the light was observed from the guard post, Bear and I traced the source to a grate covering a ventilation shaft _inside_ the Tower complex. We dropped down the shaft a distance of twenty-five meters into a stone passageway. The feeling of malice was intensified there and sounds of a battle approached." Pointing at the Shrapnel Maiden, the female ANBU continued. "She came out of the dark end of the tunnel tossing kunai at an advancing enemy, but not normal ones. They seemed to float on the air and had a ghastly appearance. Two survived her attack and cast a jutsu creating a wall of fire behind us. The three of us escaped out of the tunnel by way of the shaft under cover of exploding tags."

"The ROOT Headquarters is based in a series of tunnels and underground chambers, most of which lie beneath this tower." Akiri informed the group. Tensions rose as that piece of information sunk in. She didn't waste any time in continuing with the report, not wanting to get into an argument about ROOT. "Unfortunately, Danzo has about forty to fifty agents at his disposal and roughly two-thirds of them are still alive and have already transformed into those beasts. They seem to be able to cast various fire jutsus but I could not sense any chakra discharge from its use."

"So this new Danzo has about thirty more of those deformed ninja at his disposal and they aren't using chakra anymore." Tsunade thought aloud. "Dragon, how many teams of ANBU can be called up right now?"

"There are four teams besides mine on patrol that can be called and I can get another four within fifteen minutes."

"Nine teams should be enough to handle this. Tell them to work close range and hand-to-hand." She ordered.

Just as Dragon was about to go, Akiri interrupted things. "That would not be the best idea. Fire Jutsus were not the only thing they could do." She said pointing to a wound on her left arm. "I tried close range combat myself in order to bust through a group of them. One of them swiped me with its claws and the experience is not one I would recommend for anyone."

The Hokage rushed over as her medical protocol took control of her actions. The wound was not deep but was cold to the touch and a pale purple in color around the three small scratches. Akiri did not react at all from the various pokes and prods to the wound. Tsunade applied healing chakra to the wound, which closed but would not restore to a normal color.

"Did anything strange happen after you were wounded?" She asked her patient.

"The only thing that could be considered strange is that a small red hue formed around the assailant. It seemed to drain the life out of me while the assailant stood a little taller." Akiri replied solemnly.

"A leeching jutsu. Orochimaru worked on a similar method for a while." Dragon announced absent-mindedly. "I didn't think Danzo relayed it to his agents."

"He didn't." Akiri retorted. "Much like these new forms, I am convinced their abilities were derived from the crystal or whatever it contained."

"Either way, this hardly changes the equation." Tsunade stated. "Dragon, get me those ANBU now!"

The stated ANBU nodded and took off to perform her duty, but not before placing a comforting hand on the former ROOT agent's shoulder. The Shrapnel Maiden looked up to gaze into the ANBU's scaled mask. For a brief moment, she tried to peer through the mask to the person underneath. With a simple grasp of the shoulder, the ANBU leaped off and left Akiri pondering who it was and how she was known by her. Little did she know that said ANBU was smiling but also worried about her older sister.

* * *

Typically, the streets of Konoha were vacant during this time of the evening. After long workdays by the villagers or a hard day of training and duties by the shinobi, no one would be awake except those on guard or patrol.

Tonight would be the exception that changed reality. After the wave of malicious energy and hateful intent swept through the village, a few specific people heeded the call of their internal anger. Wandering through the streets like moths heading to an unknown flame, five elder statesmen wove toward their destination. As each elder met with another, they briefly acknowledged the other's presence before continuing onward. Each elder walked in a daze, blinded by the hatred built up inside of them, either from disagreements for letting a blond haired child live or perceived slights of honor.

Eventually, the group made their way to a small steel door a hundred meters from the western edge of the Tower wall. Usually the door would have been masked under an elaborate genjutsu as well as a chakra masking agent, but the wave of energy obliterated any and all concealments ROOT had held.

A small rumbling came from behind the door as the five elders patiently waited for whom they sought. With a groan, the door creaked open and a platoon of vampiric ghouls took post around the entrance. As the last ghoul stood in place, a bluish mist bellowed from the tunnel. From that mist, a lone figure emerged perched as if floating upon it.

The five elders, two from the Hyuuga as well as the leader of the Haruno alongside Homura and Koharu, barely recognized Danzo from the x-shaped scar on his face. The top of his head appeared to have stretched and flattened with his hair completely gone. His chin became angular and pointy. His left arm and eye were healed and his cane was discarded. The two legs seemed to be fused and he never touched the ground once as he moved to a central position in front of the group.

"_**You have been chosen as my council. Do you accept the gift of hatred that is to be bestowed upon you?" **_the newly formed apostle of Hell asked. All five bowed in acquiescence to their new master. With a talon protruding from his long bony fingers, he slashed open his left wrist, letting his lifeblood flow.

"_**Come, drink from me and be reborn."**_ Danzo/Mephisto stated, presenting the bloody appendage to the Haruno leader.

The middle-aged pink-haired woman took the offering greedily, sucking down each drop of blood as if it was life-giving nectar. As she drank, her body slowly changed. Her feet grew enough to split open her sandals. Thick curved talons emerged from each heel and from her toes. The middle fingers merged and the same talons from the remaining digits. Her skin took on a reddish hue and a leathery texture. The eyes became black voids; all humanity, once present, was now lost.

Following similar transformations by the four remaining elders, a haunting cackle filled the air awaking the sleepy residents of Konoha.

"_**Go forth, my loyal Council. Gather our flock. Raise the fallen. Let the righteous tremble under our might. Within hours, Konoha's light will fall!"**_

**

* * *

Wave Country**

It was early the next evening that Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura stood at the foot of the bridge they once helped defend. Off to the right under the shade of a large tree were two mounds of rocks, one with a mask split in two resting atop of it. A wave of nostalgia brushed across the trio as they approached the graves they carefully built. For Kakashi, he remembered the actions of the young shinobi, sacrificing himself to save his master. For Sakura, it was the first time she saw combat and when she first knew she needed to gain strength. However, Naruto would always remember the boy behind the mask, wearing a kimono while picking herbs and the words he said. It was between his words of what true strength came from and Kakashi's own motto that Naruto's nindo was born and ever since that day, he was forever indebted to the fallen shinobi.

'_I hope one day, after all my battles are over, I can see you again and thank you properly for your guidance, Haku-dono.'_ Naruto thought to himself. He never used terms of respect for anyone before, feeling it was a disservice to not address someone by a friendlier manner. Haku would always be the lone exception. In his mind, no one would ever come close to deserving respect like the Hyuton wielder did. A brief glimpse over to his master's grave broke him from his internal musings.

"Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza's zanpato is missing." He pointed out.

The masked ninja barely registered any recognition other than a simple, "Hai."

Sakura, never one to not let her opinion be known, responded, "Is that all you can say?"

"There is nothing we can do about it right now, Sakura. Maybe after this is over, we can make some inquiries, but I doubt it will stay missing for long." Kakashi reasoned.

"Why is that?" Naruto asked.

"A sword like that is usually on wielded by someone bound for a bingo book." Sai stated from behind the group. "Gomen Kakashi-sensei, but Yamato-sensei wants to get moving."

The trio nodded, giving their last respects to the dead and walking off to join the rest of the group. As the Konoha ninja approached the bridge again, a raven launched to the skies from the tree overlooking the grave site. It made a quick circling pass around the group, which put the Genin and Chuunin on guard while the two Jounin merely noted its presence. After the pass was made, the raven shot like a dart across the bridge.

"Kuso. Was that one of Itachi's ravens?" Naruto asked scanning the area with a kunai at the ready.

"Calm down, Naruto." Shikamaru stated placing his hand on the orange-clad ninja's shoulder. "I didn't sense anything from the raven."

"You sure? The bridge would be a good place for an ambush." Naruto replied darting his eyes back and forth.

\\\\\

As the group argued about the possibilities of an Akatsuki attack, the raven made its way back to the inn, landing on a second floor window sill. It tapped the window with its beak twice before a strong tanned hand opened the window. With a couple of caws, the bird was dismissed.

"The group from Konoha is here. My scout put one of the group, outfitted in a black and orange jumpsuit, on edge and looking for an attack." Baerach stated simply.

Alexia nodded and walked downstairs to the dining room. Inari and Tsunami were there setting the dining table for the evening meal while Selene and Anstrum were discussing local events with Tazuna and Cain near a fireplace. Gathering their attention with a cough, she addressed the people present.

"Anyone want to go with me to greet our new guests?"

Inari raced out of the room while Tazuna and Tsunami just laughed lightly. "I guess Inari is eager to see his niisan." The bridge builder stated with a smile. "I guess I will be going as well."

"My scouts sensed one or more of the group had some sort of bestial connection." Baerach said as he appeared next to Alexia.

Inari rushed back into the room as the druid finished his statement. Oddly enough, he was dressed in an orange and blue jumpsuit that was familiar to his kaasan and ojiisan. Tied to his head was a blank blue hitai-ite. Both Tsunami and Tazuna chuckled at the sight.

"If you really wanted to be like Naruto, you should have died your hair blonde and gotten whisker tattoos." The old man stated. After a stiff jab to his arm by his daughter, he quickly amended his statement. "Of course, you wouldn't be allowed to get tattoos."

"Gomen, but this is the only ninja gear I got. You won't let me go to the store to buy better equipment." Inari whined.

"You are not going to become a ninja. I told you this before." Tsunami stated.

"Niisan would let me!" The boy retorted. "He probably would train me!"

A minute into the argument between mother and son was enough to bring a headache to the assassin. "Enough!" she shouted stopping the altercation dead in its tracks. "We need to get going."

It was all Inari needed to hear before he sprinted out of the room and out the door heading toward the bridge named after his hero. With a collective sigh, the remaining three of the welcoming party chased after the youngster.

\\\\\

It took fifteen minutes to get Naruto calmed down before the two teams headed across the bridge. The trio that had been there before looked on thinking of better times and missing comrades. The rest of the group just wanted the first part of the mission to be completed, none more than the remnants of Team Ten and its impromptu leader, Shikamaru. He was irritated at the pace the mission was taking but would not let that show. He knew the trail would have gone cold by the time they returned to Konoha.

As he sorted through his thoughts, he noticed a figure clad in orange and blue coming from the distance. For a moment, the shadow user thought he was sitting in a time warp as what he was sure it was a young Naruto in his old orange jumpsuit approaching him.

Sakura noticed it as well and made her observation heard. "Ano... Naruto, did you leave a Kage Bunshin here when we left last time?"

The blonde ninja was dumbstruck by the statement. '_Why would I leave a clone here for that many years??'_ he thought as his vision finally caught the sight the others noticed. As the figure approached, he noticed the person was not blonde haired nor whiskered like him.

The orange-clad person waved at the group and turned around to shout at the group behind him. "Hurry up. It's Naruto-niisan!!"

Realization struck both Sakura and Naruto as they replied in unison. "Inari??"

Yamato, Sai, and Team Ten gathered around the remnants of Team Seven as Inari and his welcoming party approached. The blonde, pink, and silver haired trio instantly recognized Tazuna as he appeared behind Inari. However no one knew either the woman or the outdoorsman that flanked the old drunk.

When Inari got within arms length, he clasped arms with his idol in a warrior's handshake. "Welcome back, niisan, Sakura-neechan, Kakashi-san. Nice to see you three again. How are things?"

Naruto took in the vision of what seemed his former self before replying. Inari grew in more ways than one. It seemed the orange jumpsuit was a size too small and he seemed lean and fit.

"Everything is going well, Inari. What are you doing with one of my old jumpsuits??" the Konoha Genin inquired.

"It isn't my fault that you left one of them behind. I would have liked it better if kaasan would have let me buy better gear and outfits." Inari stated in a huff.

"Don't mind my grandson. It seems he is still dead-set on following in your footsteps, Naruto-kun." Tazuna replied as he joined the gathering.

Naruto laughed as he shook his fist at the bridge builder. "And there is something bad about following my great example, you old drunk?!"

"Not at all, Naruto-kun, but my daughter disagrees." Tazuna stated as he looked at the group. For some reason, he did not notice a raven haired teenager in the group. "What happened to that Uchiha that ran with you? Is Sasuke too busy to come?"

At that point, the former Team Seven bowed their heads in sorrowful remembrance. With the trio unresponsive, Yamato filled in the blanks. "Tazuna-san, Sasuke is… you can say tied up in other affairs at the moment. I am Yamato. With us are Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Sai." Each of the group smiled, waved, or bowed politely as they were introduced.

"Let me introduce you to two of my guests. To my left is Alexia and to my right is Baerach." Tazuna stated introducing the duo.

"I take it these are two of Deckard Cain's companions." Kakashi probed the bridge builder.

"Hai. The rest of their group and Cain himself are back at our inn with Tsunami. She is getting dinner ready for us." He stated as another raven swooped down and landed on the broad shoulders of the man adorned in animal pelts.

Naruto tensed as the bird landed and cawed at the man. The man nodded and reached in a pouch pulling out a handful of grain, which the raven pecked away at.

"So that was your pet that we saw earlier?" Ino asked amazed at how calmly the bird ate while sitting on the man's muscular shoulder.

"I wouldn't call him a pet." The druid replied in a deep guttural voice. "He is one of my scouts and a trusted ally, as are many of my woodland friends."

"I thought only Itachi had a summoning contract with the ravens." Yamato stated curiously.

"I have no contract with these ravens. I am a druid and am one with nature. Its forces and beasts work with me in all things, including battle." Baerach informed the ninjas in front of him.

"We can save the rest of the get-to-know stuff for at the dinner table. Sunset is approaching and I prefer to be inside." Alexia said patting the claws lashed on her hips.

Before the group headed back to Tazuna's inn, a hawk swooped down and landed on Kakashi's outstretched arm. Untying the note on its back, the former ANBU read it over for a minute while the group looked on curiously. He handed the note over to Yamato who took a hardened appearance after soaking in the message.

Catching the reaction from the two seasoned ninja, Shikamaru spoke up. "What happened? Did our orders change?"

"We will discuss this after we eat." The mokuton user curtly replied as he headed off to the inn.

As the group proceeded back, not many words were spoken. The trend continued despite brief introductions for the rest of Alexia's party and some catching up between Team Seven and Tsunami, Inari, and Tazuna. After a decent hot meal, the two converging groups gathered around the fireplace.

Naruto took a quick inventory on the group they came to escort and noted one dark-skinned man drilling a hole through him with his eyes. The man briefly fingered a crucifix dangling in front of his green tunic while maintaining eye contact with Naruto. His glare eerily reminded him of those given to him by the Hyuuga elders or from Neji before he mellowed out. It was a glare of disdain and self-righteousness.

'_I wonder what his problem is. Maybe later I will talk to him about it.'_ Naruto decided to himself.

With everyone settled in, Kakashi started a quick briefing. "It appears things have changed in Konoha. We will not be heading back anytime soon. Tazuna, do you know if there are vacancies at the different inns and hotels in Wave?"

"There are some, but this is a popular time of the year for tourism. How much room do we need?"

"About fifty shinobi, the Hokage, and over a hundred villagers, along with twice that wounded." Kakashi grimly stated.

Naruto sprung to his feet. "Wounded?!? What happened??"

"The message did not say, but unfortunately Tsunade-sama had to evacuate Konoha." Yamato replied firmly. "The message did say one thing. We were supposed to ask if a blue crystal and the name Mephisto meant anything."

At that name being uttered, the group from Sanctuary tensed and remembered the battles in Kurast. To them, history seemed to be repeating itself.


	5. Chapter 5

**I still don't own Blizzard or Naruto. Personally, I wish we could have a decent Naruto RPG or Diablo III sometime soon.

* * *

**

**Rice Country**

Many things have collapsed throughout Orochimaru's labs and bases ever since Sasuke eliminated the Snake Sannin. It left the Kabuto, the spectacled medic-nin, the duty of trying to pick up the pieces.

Not many knew of the real reason he followed Orochimaru so faithfully. Some thought it was out of revenge against Konoha. Some have speculated it to be the freedom to experiment. Kabuto just laughed at all of those ideas. He was there for one simple reason. Orochimaru was just a means to an end. Kabuto wanted to be the one to rule the world with a clinical mind.

That goal could not have been accomplished back in Konoha where he was born, so he sought knowledge and sanctuary elsewhere. It was by chance that he met Orochimaru and in him, Kabuto saw his chance to learn and stay hidden. Ultimately, he would have gained enough knowledge and power through his time with the Sannin to defeat him. With Orochimaru defeated, all he had to use now was the Sannin's remains and his personal lab notes. Hopefully with those things combined with his own regenerative capabilities, he could expand his power and live long past the Uchiha.

Then came the day when the weird objects fell from the sky. The spies he still had in the various lands informed him when one of the objects fell into the hands of the Akatsuki. Another spy stumbled across the fight between the ROOT agents but was not able to retrieve the second object before the winner took it to her leader. That alone changed the power equation. Not only was _his_ Sound slowly behind the power curve in comparison with Konoha, now it fell further behind those cloaked criminals.

That left him to try to obtain the last of the objects. According to his scouts, it fell inside the borders of Rice Country, about twenty leagues from the main lab. He sent one of his best squads to obtain the object and now stood patiently awaiting results. A smile graced the medic-nin's face. Patience was one trait he had in abundance and eventually it will pay off, especially if he can combine whatever power that object will have with the secrets found within Orochimaru. As soon as he did, then will be the time to strike. That day, _his_ Sound will take down Konoha and the Akatsuki. Until those events occurred, he would continue his experiments on the white snake corpse as well as the few test subjects he had left.

**

* * *

Tazuna's Inn**

Silence reigned for a few minutes after the announcement from the ANBU captain that Konoha was evacuated. Each of the shinobi was waging their own internal struggle between deciding to head back to Konoha or to sit in their worry and grief. Konoha has stood for years upon years, long before any of the ninja present were born. It bore the pain and scars from countless battles and attacks. It survived even the terrible Kyuubi, as well as an invasion led by one of the three legendary Sannin. Whatever forced Tsunade, one of the two remaining Sannin and Godaime Hokage, to evacuate with so few people and shinobi must have been tragic.

For the heroes from Sanctuary, it seemed everything started over again. The war they labored to end was starting all over again. Kurast fell under the corruptive touch of Mephisto's hatred and now Konoha has done the same. Hopefully they would not have to retreat too far before they could fight back fully.

Taking this the worst out of everyone was Anstrum. He was born in Travincal on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Mephisto's first defeat in the city. His mother Zatana was a Priestess of Zakarum, a glorious and beautiful dark-skinned woman with flowing black hair and glowing hazel eyes. His father, Stromgard, was a tall strong Knight of Zakarum. Normally a Priestess and a Knight were not allowed to even dine together, but Stromgard was undeterred when he first laid eyes on the beautiful holy woman. It was a whirlwind and highly secretive romance which they consummated on their wedding night, a year to the day after they met. They convinced the ruling council to let them stay married and they were pleased when their son was born. Two years later, they were forced to flee when the feeling of hatred swept through the city. He vowed to return to his native home to free it from Mephisto's grasp and did so after long years training under his father.

'_Now it is all happening again. A new group of refugees are now fleeing the hatred spawned by Mephisto's wretched hands. If I have anything to say of it, they will see their homelands freed long before the quarter century Kurast had to wait.'_ Anstrum vowed.

Breaking everyone out of their reverie was the sharp voice of the Horadric Sage. "Mephisto is one of the three Prime Evils, three brothers who rule Hell. Their goal is to conquer realms of humanity and finally break down the gates of Heaven. The forces of Heaven and Hell have always been in constant struggle and their battles have spilled over from time to time onto our worlds."

**'_That is the evil I sensed. I thought it felt familiar.' _**Kyuubi echoed in Naruto's mind.

'_You know of this Mephisto??' _Naruto asked of his tenant.

**'_Yes but we will not speak of it until that Sage is done speaking. Someone has noticed you not paying attention.'_** The fox replied shutting off the mental link, bringing Naruto out of his trance.

Naruto looked up to see both the massive druid and the stately paladin looking at him strangely. The druid seemed to be curious but the paladin had a more scathing glare. Doing his best to lessen any tension, he smiled at the two and refocused his attention on the old Sage.

"The blue crystal must have been a recreation of his Soulstone. The Soulstones were supernatural crystals that the Three were sealed into. Each one managed to escape their prison and wreak havoc upon the world. We originally destroyed Mephisto's Soulstone after his defeat by fighting our way to Hell's Forge and using the smith's hammer on it. Ultimately Baal, the Lord of Destruction and Mephisto's brother, was defeated as well but not before corrupting the Worldstone. Tyrael, one of Kami's Archangels, was forced to destroy the Worldstone before Baal's influence on it forced the gates of Hell to open permanently, turning our world into a stronghold for their forces. Baal had somehow managed to leech some part of Mephisto and his other brother Diablo into shards of the destroyed Worldstone. When Tyrael sent us here to your realm, they must have followed inside of those crystals." Cain finished.

"That is a bit much to take in." Kakashi said looking up from his orange book. "So you are saying that this Mephisto, one of the rulers of Makai, is the one who took over Konoha. You also are saying that his ultimate goal is to conquer this world and others along his way to bring down Heaven itself."

"It may seem too strange or far-fetched to believe, but we've fought them before." Mai informed the group. "The only way we won was taking them down one at a time after slowly taking down their forces. If you can break them into smaller groups, they are not as difficult to defeat. In a mass, as they prefer to fight, even the best fighter is overwhelmed."

"It doesn't explain how he would take over Konoha so quickly." Sakura stated. "Tsunade-sama would not have abandoned Konoha easily."

"I remember what my mother and father stated about the how Mephisto slowly turned the populace of Travincal and the rest of Kurast away from the Light. His presence seems to spread pure hatred and over time, even the most pure soul is corrupted." Anstrum informed the Konoha shinobi. "If for some reason an amount of hatred was already present, he could have easily taken control at a faster pace."

Naruto hung his head at those words. _'So it finally happened. The villages hatred of me has came back to haunt them, but now Konoha fell because of it. I just hope Baachan and Ero-Sennin are ok.'_

"When we reached Kurast," Alexia said, "the landscape was changed. A vast jungle overtook the outlying villages. The villagers were transformed into zealots and pigmies that constantly swarmed us. Some of the town guard had become rampaging behemoths and vampiric mages. Even the town council was corrupted into these strange demonic priests. If something similar happened in Konoha, your leaders had to fight off possessed citizens."

Everyone took a few seconds to soak that tidbit of information in. They fought off S-ranked criminals and invading armies before but to be attacked from within, from people you lived with would have been the hardest thing to do.

"Has anyone found a way to free them from Mephisto's spell??" Shikamaru asked. In his mind, the remote possibility of maybe even fighting someone from his clan would be too troublesome to contemplate.

The paladin spoke up in a soft tone. "My most powerful holy auras and prayers were only able to give redemption for their souls. I have never been able to remove Mephisto's taint."

Yamato sighed and settled on a course of action. "We should send a party out to help escort Hokage-sama's party here. We have no clue if any of Mephisto's new forces will be in pursuit so it might be best if our two groups intermixed."

"I agree." Mai stated crossing her arms underneath her plentiful 'assets'. "We have no idea who your party is, but you have no real experience dealing with the armies of Mephisto. It would be a tactical blunder to stay in our normal groups, for the time being."

"Very well." Alexia announced. "We will shuffle our teams around to have members of both old teams. I will stay here with Cain and Mai to help defend this area and prepare for the refugees."

"It would be best if Team Ten stayed back as well." Kakashi observed, but was quickly interrupted by an irate Chouji.

"Are you saying that we aren't ready for a combat rescue mission?! If you are holding us back…"

"On the contrary, your skills are necessary here. Shikamaru will be needed here for planning of facilities for those we will be escorting back, as well as any necessary defense of this area. Ino will be needed to set up a field hospital and you are best suited to compliment them, Chouji." Kakashi replied with a serious look of a hardened veteran. "If it is any consolation, I am staying behind as well."

"Why aren't you coming with us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I am the most familiar with the area. Normally I would prefer to keep all of our team behind, but you are needed to help the wounded make it here. Naruto's abilities would be best served keeping whatever enemy force off of the retreating shinobi, and you already know why Yamato is going with you." The silver-haired Jounin answered glancing over to their blonde teammate.

Naruto was not paying as close attention to everyone and their plans. As soon as the Horadric Sage finished, the jinchuuriki had walked over to a nearby window and looked outside. He could barely see his reflection in the window, but instead his eyes were red and the pupils were slits.

'_I guess I got my work cut out for me. I just hope Baachan is ok.' _Naruto thought solemnly. It was not often that he reflected on things, but he remembered when he first met her. Originally, he thought she was just a drunk gambling fool, but that fight with Orochimaru changed his perspective. He saw how much pain she had from the losses she endured over the years. Over time, they bonded in a rather loving but adversarial way. Naruto would never admit it, but she became the closest thing to a mother in his life.

**'_Don't worry about her, kit.'_** His reflection replied calmly in Naruto's mind._** 'There is a long road ahead if those Three are here.'**_

'_You sure about that? If you know about these guys, then she might not be able to handle things. The Yondaime barely stopped you.' _Naruto stated with a little bit of fear.

**'**_**Who do you think you are talking to? I am not just some young kit born yesterday. I know what I am talking about. You would do well to LISTEN!!'** _The Kyuubi-Naruto reflection roared, its eyes glowing a deeper red.

'_Fine, baka-kitsune. How about filling me in on what you know about the Three?" _requested Naruto in a tone that only made the demon fox growl.

**'_Take that tone one more time and I will let you figure this out on your own. Knowing you, that attempt would take decades just to figure out their names.'_**

'_Calm down. You know I am going to be up against them sooner or later. Best let me know more now instead of later, especially if you want to stay alive.' _Naruto countered with a smile. Kyuubi always hated his smiles. They were so sickly sweet and fake that he wanted to wretch.

**'_Smile like that again and I'll start screwing with your dreams. Endless dreams of burning ramen stands ought to make you behave.' _**Naruto blanched at that thought, which convinced the demon that Naruto was going to play by the rules. _**'Now that I have your attention, maybe I can explain without you being your normal smartass self. The realms under Creation were established as a part of the Covenant between Kami and Lucifer to ultimately decide which was better, Good or Evil. Lucifer ruled Makai and all of its rings as the ultimate warden. Under terms of the Covenant, Kami and Lucifer are barred from direct involvement. This changed when Lucifer took a mate and sired three sons.'**_

'_Those three sons were the Prime Evils??'_

**'_Correct, kit. They were born from a soul that Lucifer lusted after. He gave that soul a body and the Three were born from their union. Originally, Lucifer had nine lesser demons act as his gatekeepers on each ring of Makai. I was the gatekeeper of the Ninth Ring. I enjoyed my work keeping the worst of the worst souls in line. After the Three were born and grew into maturity, they sought to take over all of Creation, including Kami's realm. When they met their first defeat and sealed, not all of their essence was sealed and part lingered back to Makai.'_**

'_Ano… we were just told that they were actually sealed into crystals called Soulstones. How could they only be partially sealed?' _Naruto asked curiously before he was broken from his trance-like conversation with his mirror by a hand on his shoulder.

Shaking his thoughts loose, he settled down and turned to see Kakashi looking at him. "Ready to go Naruto? The rest of your team is waiting."

"We're leaving tonight?!" he shockingly inquired.

"Hai. Best to head out as soon as possible. Did _he_ have something to say?" the long-time leader of Team seven asked.

"He knew them, but we never finished our conversation. For this kind of information, I am not sure I want to be giving it second hand." Naruto stated with a sigh. "I am not sure I would be asking _him_ all of the right questions."

"Well maybe we can figure something out after everyone comes back."

Naruto walked to the door with a purpose. "You are right, sensei. We have more important things to do right now, like getting to Baachan."

As Team Kakashi, led by Yamato, went outside Baerach walked up to his room to fetch his weaponry and armor. Shikamaru and Kakashi joined Alexia, Mai, and Tazuna in a conference room to go over initial plans for the refugees and defense of Wave. This left Selene and Anstrum alone by the fireplace. Selene saw the turmoil brewing behind the scowl on her companion's face. Over their journey, they saved each other's lives many times and been paired together on separate missions. A bond developed and after time, they could instantly know when the other was troubled, as the holy warrior was now.

"Out with it. What has vexed you in such a manner??" The statuesque sorceress asked affectionately placing a hand on his shoulder.

"There is something about that blonde teen; something that was not right. I felt a demonic presence coming from him." Anstrum replied grimly causing Selene to gasp.

"You don't think he possessed like the Wanderer was or one of the Three's minions in hiding, do you?? He seemed caring and carefree, especially around our hosts. Wasn't he the one that had that bridge named after him??"

"That may be but who knows what may have changed between when he was here last and now. Remember the Wanderer was a hero of Tristram at one time before he fell to Diablo inside his own mind." The paladin warned as he stood to go back to his room. "Either way, we best get dressed in our armor. We may have a tough fight ahead. While we go to find the refugees, we will keep an eye on this Naruto. If he gets out of hand, we will deal with him then.

As he walked upstairs, Selene digested his words and grew concerned. She just hoped her close friend would not do anything too rash against the boy. Sighing, she walked upstairs to grab her armor and rod. _'Nothing can ever be simple in this life, can it?'_

**

* * *

Fire Country**

Tsunade looked over her worn and frazzled group of villagers and shinobi with as much confidence and dignity a defeated leader could muster. Everything she held dear in the village she sworn to protect and nurture was reduced to the ragtag group that was on the march carrying a few storage scrolls full of archives and clan valuables kept between the remaining shinobi.

'_Such a sorrowful sight. I am so sorry Nawiki, Dan, Ojiisan. I failed as a Hokage. If there was just something else I could have done, but the numbers were just too many.' _She thought as she held back tears.

A comforting hand rested on her shoulder. Typically if she was touched by him in any way, she would have sent him sailing though the night sky with a massive punch. Instead, she turned to her former teammate and fellow Sannin, Jiraiya, and nodded.

The mighty Toad Sage was not any better off. Much of his normal attire was shredded and burnt from the attacks of those that were converted by Mephisto. His hair and skin were coated with a thin layer of soot, dirt, and dried blood, forming an odd camouflage.

"Don't dwell on it. There was not much we could do and we saved everyone and everything we could." He stated calmly.

Taking a calming breath, she took a quick tour around the mobilized caravan. It had been a full-day since the message was sent to Team Kakashi and Team Ten. They managed to push through and cover thirty leagues since they left Konoha under the cover of various jutsus, including Jariaya's Swamp of the Underworld, thirty-six hours prior. The villagers that didn't succumb to the aura of hatred were dragging as they trudged forward.

In front and behind the villagers were groups of shinobi that helped guard the caravan. In the center of the formation were groups of wagons that were set up to carry what possessions they were able to save and the wounded that were being treated by Shizune and other medical personnel. Darting along the tree line on either side of the road were what was remaining of the ANBU forces. From the squads that she managed to call up and those already on patrols, only three squads remained alive.

Reaching back to where Jiraiya was stationed, near the rear of the caravan, Tsunade fell back into the pace of the group.

"Do you think they will hold up?" The Toad Sage inquired of his Hokage.

"They should if everything holds like this. I doubt anyone would attack a group this size, but seeing what we fought against, who know what the undead would do at the control of this Mephisto." Tsunade said with a shiver, remembering her brief glimpse of the thing that Danzo turned into.

Suddenly, a commotion grew from the front of the caravan. One of the teams of ANBU instantly converged on the scene. Both of the Sannin tried to make out what the nature of the disturbance was before one of the said ANBU dashed back. With a salute and a slight bow, the ANBU gave his report.

"Hokage-sama, a pack of wolves and a flock of ravens approached the front of the caravan only to turn around and retreat back up the trail. They appeared to move in unison so it is possible they could be summons."

"Very well, have your captain and the rest of your squad take post near the front. I will be up there shortly. Have the lead team slow the pace of the march." The buxom Hokage ordered. With a nod, the ANBU sprinted back to the front of the column.

"Suspecting a trap?" Jiraiaya asked curiously.

"There is no telling. Ravens usually are Itachi's trademark, but I never seen nor heard of him using them as such obvious scouts. That isn't what troubles me." Tsunade said as she made preparations to move up to the front.

"I guess you are more concerned about the wolves. I never have seen a wolf summon before. I heard of there being a contract for them but never knew anyone who signed it."

"Exactly and with the appearance of moving in unison with the ravens makes this a mystery I want solved. Stay here and keep a watch on our rear flank." She ordered before she leapt to a position next to the lead shinobi team.

Team Kurenai was already behind the power curve as it was with their sensei off active duty and with the wounded. With recent events for Hinata, things couldn't get much worse. The Hyuuga took major hits to their numbers in the attack. Almost all of the main branch had already fallen dead, were converted, or in the medical wagons. That included her father, who was a part of the team that helped cover their retreat. Since the retreat, she had not seen or heard from her father and had no idea what happened to him. Off to the left at about fifty meters stood Neji and the rest of Team Gai. Neji stood proudly with his team with his hitai-ate proudly adorned on his left bicep.

Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, a group of people became visible upon the horizon. With a simple hand sign, she activated her Byakuugan, raising the veins around her eye sockets and in her eyes themselves in order to sustain the necessary visual gifts of her clan. Zooming in, she came upon a group of seven people running toward them.

From left to right, the seven people that came forward seemed a little mismatched. There was a dark-skinned man wearing a gleaming silver breast plate and an ornate metal collar over the top of a green tunic. His tan pants were also covered with a silver shin guards. He was carrying a strange gold and red scepter in his left hand and a domed grey shield over his right forearm. His gloves and boots were made of dark leather covered in grey chain metal.

The dark-skinned woman next to him was well proportioned and adorned in purple armor. It seemed to give off a strange glow that wasn't from the sunlight. In her left hand was a claw-like rod with a blue sphere in the claw's clutches. Near her was a giant of a man adorned in fur-lined leather armor. His hair was neatly tied in a long pony-tail, which was wrapped in numerous bone and wooden ornaments. The pony-tail flowed out from what seemed to be a wolf's head with red eyes that he wore like a helmet. In his right hand was a spiked mace trimmed in ivory with three gemstones set below the ball of the mace. In his left was a large black shield with a golden emblem of a hawk.

Those three she didn't recognize at a glance, but when she saw the red outfit and pink hair of Sakura and the black and orange jumpsuit of Naruto, a shy smile crossed her face. She glanced over to her cousin Neji, who was wearing a smile as well. He gave the signal to halt the caravan, which caused Tsunade to come over to his side.

"What is it Neji?"

"Naruto and his team are approaching with three armored people with them, two male and one female." He replied with a calm voice.

"Arigato, Neji. Keep eyes on the people accompanying Team Kakashi." She ordered as she turned to the rest of the caravan, giving the hand signal to halt the column.

Naruto was running in a sprint as soon as word was passed by Baerach that the refugees were spotted. Within a few minutes, he came far enough on the trail to see them group in place on the trail. He scanned the mass of people and wagons until he spotted who he wanted to see.

"Sakura-chan, that isn't an illusion is it??" He asked hopefully.

His medic teammate sighed and replied with a shake of her head. "No Naruto. That is definitely Hokage-sama."

That propelled the blond to rush at top speed to the group in front of him. Selene noticed him sprinting ahead of their team and turned to Yamato, who was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Does he always act like that??" The sorceress sweetly inquired.

"Unfortunately, Naruto has always been one that was acted on his emotions, especially to ones he has deemed precious to him, or at least ever since I knew him." The ANBU Captain replied wistfully.

Anstrum overheard that comment and grew confused. That wouldn't match the demonic presence he felt earlier. He knew of no demon that would consider any human precious in any way. _'If the boy has human emotions, then why does he have such a demonic aura about him??' _He questioned internally.

Naruto was within fifty meters when he spotted the Hokage. As soon as he recognized her, he adjusted his course to her location. Seeing this, a pair of ANBU made their way to Tsunade, who just waived them off with a smirk.

When he got to within fifteen meters, he saw Team Gai and Team Eight in front of her, acting as scouts. Naruto charged his feet with chakra and jumped over their head to land perfectly in front of the blond Hokage.

"Baachan, I was so worried. Are you alright?" the jinchuuriki asked with concern etched in every inch of his face.

For a brief moment, Tsunade was going to let that comment slide. However, luck was not on Naruto's side. She reached out and bonked him on the head, putting him flat on the ground.

"How many **TIMES??** I told you **NOT** to call me that, gaki!"

**"**Yeah, Yeah, I love you too. Seriously, you are not hurt at all??" Naruto grumbled as he scraped himself off the dirt.

"I appreciate the concern, but I am fine. Did you accomplish your team's mission?" She asked with a soft smile.

Naruto stood proudly in response to her query. "Of course. You didn't honestly believe we would fail at all, right??"

She ruffled his hair. "Never a doubt, Naruto." She noticed the rest of Naruto's party reach her location. "Yamato, who did you bring with you?"

Before he could respond, Anstrum answered her question, waiving at each person in turn. "Allow me to introduce myself and my compatriots. I am Anstrum, Knight of Zakarum. This wise woman is Lady Selene and our burly partner here is Baerach of Barnar's Druidic Clan. We are associates of one Deckard Cain, whom I believe was to be escorted to you before the taint of Mephisto plagued your land."

A scowl quickly crossed the Slug Sannin's face. "You know of that beast that possessed my villagers and shinobi?"

"We fought him before." The deep voice of the druid iterated. "That can be discussed later. My allies and scouts saw and caught the scent of the wounded. I suggest we move quickly."

"I could help with healing these souls who were afflicted by that devil's minions." Anstrum stated before he started focusing his mana and chanting in a language unknown by the ninja present.

The sorceress placed an elegant hand on her holy companion, breaking him out of his trance. "There is no need. Save your strength for until we get back to the inn. It would be best to get everyone there now."

"Well gaki, you brought some interesting friends with you." Stated the grey haired Toad Sannin as he approached the group.

"You could say that again, Ero-Sennin. You should see his wolves. They just appeared from the trees in a shimmer of energy. They were more civil that your toads, even though I don't mind Gamakichi." Naruto replied.

In an instant, a blue flash broke their fledgling argument. Everyone turned to see a scroll with a blue ribbon unfurled and a large blue circular portal opened up.

"I hate to complain in the sight of your intelligence but how do we know that the portals will work like it did in Sanctuary?" The paladin asked of his ebony-skinned sorceress.

She smiled knowingly back at him. "I placed a waypoint anchor a hundred paces from the inn. It should be fine, but I will check since I have more than one portal scroll." With that, she turned and walked into the portal, disappearing as soon as she crossed the event horizon.

**

* * *

Wave Country**

Shikamaru was looking out from the bridge while smoking on a cigarette. With a small cough, he wondered how Asuma-sensei could stomach so many of these cancer sticks in one day.

A flash of blue light came from off his left shoulder about forty to fifty meters away. He turned to see the dark-skinned female of Cain's group simply walk out and walk back into a blue circle of light, only to see that circle disappear when she walked back inside it.

Shaking his head, he muttered to no one in particular. "What a troublesome waste of time that was."

**

* * *

Fire Country**

Most of the ninja gawked as Selene reemerged from the portal, only to have it blink from existence and the scroll disintegrate into wisps of smoke upon her arrival.

"As you can see," She replied confidently. "Everything is working just fine with the portals. We can have everyone move through and be back at the inn within moments."

Naruto, being the loud and eager learner, opened up. "Sugoi! That was so cool. How do those scrolls work? Can you teach me how to do that?"

"I don't see why not. The incantations are not that complex to inscribe on the scroll." Selene replied happy to teach an eager student, only to feel the ire from Anstrum.

Tsunade also noticed the Paladin's change of attitude from that exchange. Feeling the need to end this potential confrontation quickly, she interrupted their banter. "You can ask about that later, Naruto. Right now we have people to get to shelter. If you please, Lady Selene."

The sorceress bowed and unfurled another scroll that she had in her pack and ushered the Konohan refugees through the new portal. After twenty minutes, all that was left was Selene, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Naruto.

"What do you think, gaki? Ready to go through?" Jiraiya asked of his pupil.

"Let's go, you old perv. I need to introduce you to my apprentice when you get there." Naruto said with a wide grin.

"You got an apprentice, brat?" Lady Tsunade replied.

"Of course I do. He even has taken up my love of the color orange." He replied gleefully as he walked through the portal.

The two Sannin sighed looking disbelievingly at each other. "So who burns the outfit first?" Jiraiya asked of his former teammate.

"If you don't I will." She replied as she entered the portal herself.

As the last of the group went through the portal, a tall man wearing a black cloak with red clouds rose from the ground. His head was covered by a Venus flytrap and two yellow eyes shone through the plant's teeth. He walked over to the portal only to feel a push from the portal, as if it denied him entry.

"Interesting." The haunting sound of the plant-man stated. "The Leader should know of this." Just as quickly as he appeared, the man sunk back into the ground and out of sight.

* * *

_(A/N): Feel free to review. I have no problems with constructive criticism. Either way, please review._


	6. Chapter 6

**Another fun disclaimer about how I do not own or ever will own Naruto or anything from Blizzard Entertainment.Isn't these notes annoying?? **

* * *

**Rice Country**

A few things can try the patience of the Nidaime Otokage. An experiment that keeps going south or an unruly subordinate repeatedly making a fool of himself or herself is one of his top few. Today, those two events occurred alongside two other annoyances of a more substantial nature and ground at him like peppercorn in a mill.

No substantial progress came from any of the experiments on the cells cultivated from Orochimaru's white snake corpse or from any of notes the Snake Sannin left behind. Any potential abilities that he derived from the snake or from his experiments seemed to follow him to the grave. It irritated Kabuto to no end that his regenerative capabilities he derived from his own genetic traits couldn't be augmented from the experiments.

What was merely an irritation morphed into a perpetual disgust when the constant reports from his attendant about the mundane events of the day. If it wasn't a report about the problems with the "test subjects", it was a report about possible defections. If that wasn't enough, then it was a report about the lack of information about Sasuke's new team. Any longer with reports about the same thing and he would have to find himself a new attendant, for this one would find his jugular vein cut.

Disgust turned to anger when the report from his spy in Konoha never came. Both he and the members of his spy network were sticklers for punctuality. A report never came in late more than once before a spy was recalled for "reconditioning". Said reconditioning would make one Morino's methods of extracting information seem like a day at a resort. However, it was days overdue since the last report from Konoha. If Orochimaru or Kimimaro were still alive, they would have been left in place and Kabuto would have handled this indiscretion personally. With current circumstances, it required another asset to be sent into the village, _if_ he had an asset to spare.

Anger turned into malicious intent since it was thirty-six hours since he sent his scouts out to find and retrieve the last object. Every hour since the object was not in his possession made him want to lash out like Orochimaru used to when he had any failures from his subordinates.

That was precisely what he did when the scout returned later that night. He detected the oncoming presence of the scout as well as the massive power signature from the object. Knowing that he had succeeded with obtaining that object calmed his frayed nerves somewhat but the need to extract the necessary pound of flesh from the scout still lingered.

The scout, a female of exotic proportions with a personality that oozed sensuality, dropped into the Otokage's chamber and handed him the object. While she lingered to give a thorough report on the difficulties of getting the desired object, Kabuto had his attention focused on the yellow crystal he held. The crystal held no imperfections and each cut was perfect in its shape and texture, as if it was crafted by a master jeweler. Even though he nodded and commented at the appropriate moments, not one part of the scout's report was heard. During the next moment, he pushed a small thread of chakra into the crystal. A flash of yellow light enveloped his vision.

After he instinctually rubbed his eyes and reset his glasses, he took note of where he was. The walls were made of obsidian quartz and speckled grey granite in random flowing patterns that would always end in a jagged horn or spike. All around him were vast lava flows of which the heat was nearly unbearable. The only safe haven was the walkway made of ruby red pumice that held no flat surface and made any walk along its length treacherous.

Seeing nothing around, he decided on exploring but before the first step was taken, a black and yellow haze swirled in front of him. It started to coalesce into a form that was a bit mismatched. Its face was near human but with a conical shaped chin and pulsing yellow eyes. The skin was a pale blue and seemed eel-like in its appearance. The hair on its head was black and twisting into ram style horns along the side of its face. When it turned its head, he could tell that it actually was one massive horn that gave the appearance of hair. The upper body was covered in tattered tan robes that left the upper portion of its hairless chest exposed. There was not much in muscle definition even in the abnormally long arms that had translucent yellow tentacle wisps of energy slinking about in eel-like fashion. From about approximately where a belly button would be, the tan robe molded into a black hardened shell and bulged out into an oval insect casing. Attached to the casing were six prong shaped appendages that extended half a meter out from the main body before abruptly hinging downward to plant into the ground with points that seemed steel-tipped. Overall, the being was a good three to four meters tall and loomed over him.

His initial reaction was to use genjutsu since it could have been a reaction by the crystal to his chakra probe. Forming the simple seal and pushing his chakra through his body in an attempt to shake whatever influence occupied his mental capacity, he muttered a simple "Kai". When nothing happened, he peered up into the being's eyes and noticed it smiling and starting to laugh. Its laugh bellowed through wherever they were and seemed to echo off the walls to create a most ominous and chilling sound. Kabuto was rarely frightened even when working with Orochimaru, but now he was scared to the point of knowing he would need to flee or die.

"_**Have no fear. I am not here for you. You should be grateful, young hanyou, that I am even speaking in your presence." **_The being said in a regal but almost manipulative tone.

"Hanyou?! I am not some pathetic half-breed. I am Kabuto, the Nidaime Otokage and master of the arts of medicine and science. I think I would know if I was some illegitimate child of human and demon." He replied after its words awoke a small part of anger in him for being spoken down to.

The beast chuckled knowingly before countering with his response. _**"Oh but you are, Kabuto. Do you honestly think that your regenerative traits came from some simple **__**human? You most definitely are a hanyou. See for yourself." **_It said before twirling the fingers in its right hand as if it could conjure something from thin air.

Kabuto was about to scoff at the being's melodramatic ways before a simple silver hand mirror wavered into existence in front of him. Shaking the shock from his system, he grasped the mirror and looked over his form. His hair and face was the same in appearance and he would have dismissed the creature's words until he noticed his eyes. The pupils and irises of his eyes were now surrounded by blood red tissue and not the normal white. He reached up to touch his face and noticed the second change. His skin seemed to be more pliable than before, as if it were made of a gelatinous substance.

"_**It seems you are now coming to the truth of the matter. Your regenerative abilities come from your demon half. In my domain, it would stand that it would be more prevalent." **_The being stated, holding a tone of vindication.

Tossing the mirror to the side in frustration, Kabuto slowly schooled his anger before he did something regrettable. Obviously, this being had the upper hand in information and environment. If he was to gain any sort of tactical advantage, he needed all of his faculties at his disposal.

As soon as that thought occurred, the creature laughed again in its self-righteous and knowing manner. _**"Do you think that you could gain an advantage against one of the three Prime Evils?? Do you honestly believe you could best one of the rulers of Makai??"**_

Kabuto's brain was pulled in many different directions when that piece of information was given. After calming himself, he decided to grab whatever answers he could get. "Are we inside the crystal right now?"

"_**No, the Soulstone can only hold one soul at a time. When you accessed it with your life energy, you created a link that I was able to exploit." **_Waiving its hands demonstratively, it continued with the explanation. _**"This is a psychic link between our two consciousnesses. Since my mind is the stronger, the décor is to my standards. My name is Baal. When we linked our minds, I accessed your memories and thoughts and still can."**_

"So you already know what I am going to ask you?" Kabuto inquired with his curious scientific mind in full gear.

"_**Of course I do. For your first question, your demon half came from one of the great seductresses of my realm by the name of Andariel. I believe your human kaasan was just one of the many bodies she used to inhabit before meeting her demise back in Sanctuary. You have some of her latent abilities as well as a demon's regenerative capabilities hidden away in your blood. She loved to make poisons and mess with human anatomy so I am not surprised at your skills in that area."**_

Kabuto originally thought he would be disgusted with the notion that he was some half-breed but seeing all of the gifts his latent blood gave him already, he smiled and reveled in it. Before Baal could speak, Kabuto got his most important question in the open. "What do you want from me? No great being ever talks to someone lesser in stature without some need."

A wide sinister grin spread across Baal's face. _**"Very perceptive. I am pleased that I was found by someone of your intelligence. Since you are hanyou, I guess I can leave you in charge here in this realm."**_

"Leave me in charge? That only means you plan on conquering this realm for some goal of yours." Kabuto replied quickly.

"_**Correct again. The goal is quite simple. Remove the forces of Light here in this realm and use this as our outpost in the long march to knock down Kami's Celestial Palace. My sire was nothing more than a fool willing to play the game. I prefer to just forget the rules and take everything." **_Baal answered with a sweet evilness that would have made Orochimaru soil himself.

Kabuto understood the intent and since he was to be made ruler of this realm, he could deal with working in this Baal's shadow. "It still doesn't answer what you want from me. How much can you do from this Soulstone??" He hoped the answer would provide any opening he could grasp to make him the dominant one in the exchange.

Baal sensed this and squelched that notion by wrapping one of his energy tentacles around the Otokage and hoisting him to eye level. _**"Understand this, puny Hanyou. I may have been bested before but each of us three gained from the Worldstone. Cross me and you will not be anything more than a disemboweled carcass that I am sure a few demons would not mind devouring or deflowering while you were still conscious. Now this part is done. Get out and get me a worthy body and maybe I will reward you with the knowledge you seek from that snake."**_

In an abrupt shift, Kabuto was shaken loose from his trance and awoke into the waking world. The female scout was frantically waving her hand in front of his face. Quickly, Kabuto grabbed her neck and pushed chakra through her spinal cord to the pleasure center of her brain. All semblances of reason and restraint fell like autumn leaves against a strong wind. With a jolt of speed, he lashed her wrists to his throne using chakra restraints and started to cut her clothes from her body.

After a couple moments, Kabuto's attendant came in. Noticing the woman was only in her bra and panties and tied up; he made to leave before his master stopped him with a raised hand.

"Have the rest of the test subjects rounded up and placed into the combat room then lock the door. Tell them to fight to the death and have the survivor healed and in my presence when it is over. Until then, I will be pleasantly occupied." The Otokage said lustfully as he dismissed his attendant. After the person left, he placed the crystal in a jar and proceeded to extract his pound of flesh.

**

* * *

**

Wave Country

If it was any other time, the sight of two persons lounging at the dock looking up at the clouds would not be out of place. If they were in Konoha and not in Wave, the sight would be normal. Unfortunately, neither was the case, which made the scene strange in its own right.

Both teenagers were peering up at the clouds and taking a break from everything that transpired within the last week. For the boy on the left, he always looked at the clouds to find solace from the stress of ninja life. In the past, he would lose all of the annoyances gained through everyday dealings with some of his colleagues. The wistful bundles of water vapor and particulates would carry away his stressors upon the wind that carried them along.

These days, it merely provided a break from the dreadful reality his life now held. No longer were there the celebratory meals at the barbeque restaurant with his sensei. No longer would there be games of Shoji with either his sensei or with his tousan. It wasn't even a certainty that he would be back at his favorite cloud gazing spot under one of the trees in Konoha. He still remembered when he first found out that the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio never made it out alive.

_**-- **__**Flashback **_--

Those that stayed behind watched as wagon after wagon and person after person staggered through the blue luminescent portal that appeared. It was a relief when Team Gai and Team Eight first came through and hope was that certain people made it through. As the wounded came through, there would be stretchers or wheelchairs waiting with helpful villagers or those ninja already present whisking them to the medical stations. As the stream of refugees started to thin out, the remainder of Team Ten waited to see if any of their families made it through. There were a handful of Nara, Yamanaka, and Amakichi clansmen that made it but none of the ones that Ino, Chouji, or Shikamaru wanted to see.

When Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Selene crossed over the event horizon and the portal closed, the trio approached them cautiously, knowing what was going to be said but unsure if they wanted to hear it. As Shikamaru stood there poised as he normally would be, his thoughts were racing as to any possible explanation as to why his tousan was not there yet. He could have been with his two compatriots, Inochi and Chouza, on a mission of importance. They could have been with a different group of refugees escorting them.

Approaching the Godaime cautiously, they could see her haggard expression from the events that transpired and each of them almost backed out of asking the all important question.

Tsunade looked over the area that now was to be their temporary home and almost shed a tear in memory of those who fell to provide them the time to make it this far. Catching the three shinobi out of the corner of her eye, she sighed knowing the news she would have to give. Taking a calming breath, she put her game face on and met the trio.

She was about to speak when the younger blonde kunoichi beat her to the punch. "Where is tousan and kaasan? I didn't see them come through. What happened to them?" Ino asked, barely holding back the tears she knew would come.

When Tsunade dropped her look of confidence and hung her head, no words needed to be said. Chouji was the first to react, letting out a primal scream and falling to his knees. Ino openly wept and flung herself into Shikamaru's arms. The lazy ninja normally would have called the whole display troublesome, but the stoic Nara himself couldn't suppress the sadness as his own tears were shed.

_**-- End Flashback --**_

'_At least the clouds are still here. I wonder if tousan or Asuma-sensei is looking down on me now.'_ Shikamaru thought mournfully.

To his left laid the one person he never would have imagined would be sitting next to him cloud gazing. He always thought the blonde was too energetic to be just looking up at the sky. Little did he know that Naruto also had many thoughts plaguing his mind.

For the jinchuuriki, he knew he was too close to losing more of the ones he now called his family, even though he would not tell them how he truly felt just yet. The man he saw as his uncle, the Toad Sage Jaraiya, looked and felt like he went ten rounds with a forge and lost. The woman he called baachan, Tsunade, was so stressed that she haven't shown that playful omnipotent smirk anymore. Everyone was so busy with healing the wounded or building what was called 'temporary barracks' that no time yet was given to any plans for retaking their home. To him, it left a bad taste in his mouth. With all of the battles and hardships he had undergone before, this one was the hardest to take.

'_I should have been there. If I was, we would still be in Konoha now.' _Naruto lamented. _'I'm lucky that those that I always cared about made it out unharmed, but too many lost their lives or their freedom.'_

'_**You shouldn't dwell on that too long, kit. There are tougher battles ahead.'**_The great demon stated trying to get the boy off of depressing thoughts. He needed his container in a better state of mind than this.

The blond just closed his eyes and let his mind drift to where the cage was. As much as he despised coming to the demon, Naruto knew that this monstrosity was the only source for answers at the moment.

Most times when he managed to make his way to the seal area, it was pictured as a giant cage with golden doors and a multitude of pipes lining the ceiling. If it was any other time Naruto would have been in a panic, but with the events of the last few days this was par for the course. Then again, he may have seen too many movies and changed his mindset on how the seal should have appeared.

He walked down the same stone hallway that he normally took to approach the fox's cage. A few small lights adorned the floor illuminating his path to the seal. After a few moments, Naruto noticed a cushioned metal chair in front of some sort of room. There was a brick and metal wall a half-meter tall. Above that, there was some sort of barrier. Placing his hand on the barrier, he felt the cool touch of a window.

Moving his gaze to the right, he noticed a metal plate binding the window to the stone wall. In the middle of the plate, a simple speaker grate stood out with a black button below it about the size of a piece of sushi and a metal drawer. Curiosity grabbed him and he pulled out the drawer. It came out about to about elbow length and was deep enough to hold a few scrolls.

In the corner of his eye, a small light came on startling the blonde. He closed the drawer quickly and got into a protective stance. On the other side of the mirror was a simple bed, chair and desk. On the desk were various books, artisan paper, ink and brushes. The light came from a small fluorescent light on the ceiling of the room. The look of the place almost gave it a prison cell feel instead of the animal cage Naruto was accustomed to seeing.

Rising from the bed was a man who by mere appearances would be some sort of traveler. When he finally got to his feet, the man stood a head over two meters with a nimble but well-developed frame. His auburn colored hair fell to just above neck length and was unruly in its appearance. The man kept his eyes hidden from view behind ruby-colored sunglasses. He bore a devilish smirk on his face barely showing a set of teeth so perfect, even Gai or Lee would be awed by its brilliance. Hanging precariously from the corner of his mouth was a lone toothpick that looked like it had seen better days.

His attire was a bit off for the time or place but seemed to fit him. The black jeans draped over steel-tipped combat boots, tan snakeskin belt, red t-shirt, and black jean jacket gave him the look of both someone you would be interested in knowing but wary of being around too long.

A lone chuckle came from the man as he walked over to the cage and lowered his glasses slightly with his right index finger. Naruto looked at the eyes that now became visible and found the same eyes that plagued him in his waking nightmares. Those were a pair of red eyes with vertical slit pupils, the eyes of a fox.

"_**I hope my appearance is to your liking, young kit. I haven't been in this form for a few decades." **_The Kyuubi announced smugly.

The momentary shock of seeing his tenant in other than the form of his nightmares was replaced with a simple laugh. "If you appeared this way, it might have been easier to approach you that first time."

"_**That is the point. You said you would rather not repeat whatever important information that I may have right?"**_ He was answered with a simple nod. _**"Good. I'll give you the details of what you need to build and gather. Once you complete the structure and finish the preparations, gather whoever you want present and make them follow the directions I give you."**_

As the demon walked over to the desk and rolled up an artisan scroll he had, Naruto did what he usually did at moments like this. With a confused look, he asked the simplest question. "Give them how? All you usually give me is chakra."

In an abrupt motion, the drawer shot out. Walking over, he found the scroll the Kyuubi had on his desk. Scratching his head sheepishly, the blond took the scroll and looked it over. Noticing some ingredients to be placed in a small kettle for incense, he raised an eyebrow and made to comment on them.

"_**Don't bother worrying about anything on that scroll. It is just an ancient method of connecting to one's spiritual and mental energies. Adding the dose of chakra will link all the minds. Now get out of here and get to work." **_The great demon said throwing Naruto out of the mindscape. Once gone, the Kyuubi laughed. _**"Maybe I should have said something more but this will be more fun to see when everyone is in his mind. I wonder what that one girl will look like."**_

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Tazuna's Inn

Neji walked out of his onisen and toweled off. Injuries and soreness from the battle mere days ago were gone but a lone reminder was staring back at him when he looked in the mirror after donning his new robes. Absent from his forehead was the mark that was the bane of the branch family. Memories flooded his brain as the reason for the missing Caged Bird Seal was still painful in his mind.

-- _**Flashback **_--

The battle had raged for hours since the first group of fanatical villagers started pounding at the gate of the compound. At the outset, the guards and a handful of shinobi from the branch family were able to keep the attackers at bay. Slowly, the numbers started to catch up to the defenders and Hiashi commanded more men to the perimeter after the third hour of combat. At that point, a few shrieks came from behind the offending force of villagers.

Neji, standing near his uncle acting as his personal guard, focused his Byakugan in the direction of the noise. There he saw a sight that would be forever etched in his memory. Bodies of decaying flesh, missing limbs, and even skeletal masses started to march on the compound. Each of them was armed either with sharpened claws, aged katanas, or bows. Behind them stood two oddly shaped men. Their bird-like beaks and feet sprouting sharp talons gave them the appearance of birds but Neji knew better the instant he saw their outfits.

"Hiashi-sama, it appears we have been betrayed." Neji replied calmly while motioning with his head toward the two new arrivals.

Hiashi followed his train of sight and noticed the two humanoid monstrosities that started to guide the actions of the undead horde. As a Hyuuga shinobi would strike down one of the undead with repeated Jyuuken strikes, one of the two bird-men would raises its clawed hands and with a wave of golden chakra the undead beast would rise again. One of the valiant Branch members managed to force some space between her and the horde in order to leap to where the Frankenstein-like monsters were stationed. Before a strike could be landed, one of the two beasts went through a quick set of hand signs and the Branch member fell to the ground clutching her head.

Hiashi and Neji could only stare as the Hyuuga woman died from massive brain hemorrhaging with blood pooling out from her tear ducts, nostrils, and ear canals. They continued to observe in abject horror when the other beast's black eyes started to glow and the veins around them bulged. In a quick wave of its hand, a trio of fiery dragon heads emerged from the ground behind the beast and launched a series of fireballs at a squad of ANBU that came in to reinforce the battle-weary Hyuuga.

"It is time to go." Hiashi stated as he grasped Neji's arm. "Grab Hanabi and Hinata and meet me in my study." Neji nodded and dashed along the rooftops of the compound. In less than two minutes, he met the two heirs where they were helping to guard a group of main and branch family children.

It was thirty minutes later that he stood in the clan leader's study. Here at various times during the Hyuuga clan's history many important decisions were made. When the current leader arrived, cut and bleeding from twin lacerations on his forehead and limping from an arrow wound, Neji knew a vital decision was to be made again.

"Otousan!!" Hinata and Hanabi cried as they rushed to their father. He waved them off as me managed to make his way to a picture hung on the wall behind his desk. Using a simple Ox hand sign, he released the seal holding the hinge in place and the picture swung open, revealing were two large scrolls which he then retrieved and handed to Hinata and Neji.

Before a word was spoken, Gai and Iruka appeared in the office through a swirl of leaves. Neither of them was any worse for wear. Gai was sporting various cuts and bruises and his spandex was torn in three places. Iruka was favoring his right arm from what appeared to be an elbow fracture.

"It is time to go Hiashi-sama. The Hokage has ordered all clans to evacuate and gather at the academy grounds." Gai stated while keeping an eye on the hallway for any potential intruders.

With a sigh, the usually stoic Hiashi stood in front of Neji and took off the young prodigy's hitai-ate and tied it around Neji's shoulder. After a flash of seals, his right index finger glowed with a blue-green color. He then took a bit of his blood from one of the wounds with the finger and traced Neji's Caged Bird seal. As the blood touched the seal, it sizzled and smoked. The seal fell from the teenager's forehead in a dusting of green ash.

Tears slowly fell from the three young Hyuuga as Hiashi finally spoke to them. "Many of our clan has fallen and we must prepare for the worst. Neji, you are charged to lead the clan if I fall. Teach my two himes as my dear otouto taught you."

_**-- End Flashback --**_

Those were the last words spoken by the Hyuuga clan elder as along the way to the academy with those surviving members of the clan, Hiashi fell as a pair of lightning charged arrows struck him down. He was just finished his last Kaiten which shielded Hinata from a barrage of fireballs when the deathblow was struck. It wasn't until after arriving in Wave and the tension finally washed away that the severity of the events struck him.

He was the new head of what was a decimated Hyuuga clan. Besides the two dozen of children and pregnant women that survived, only twenty able Hyuuga shinobi survived. From that number, most were branch members that were already on guard detail with Hinata and Hanabi. None of the elders survived save the two that were now those beasts he saw.

Before he could dwell in the moment for too long, a knock came from the outer door. Gathering himself, he made his way out to the main room to see Hinata standing in the doorway, giving him a slight bow as Neji approached.

"Neji-sama, the clan has gathered downstairs. It is time." She said calmly while trying to hold back her own feelings of loss and pain.

"I prefer you called me nisan, Hinata." He replied warmly as he could. "Unless we are in the presence of the clan, of course." Hinata gave a slight smile and nod as best she could before turning to walk away.

Following her, Neji thought back to one other moment. Images of a scroll from his tousan, a prostrating Hiashi-sama, and the words of a loudmouth blond rattled in his consciousness. The last thought was of one senbon chewing Chuunin and his words.

'_Maybe when I am done here I will let Naruto-san know that the Hyuuga has changed.' _He internalized as he walked to the stairwell. _'You were right Genma-san. Eventually, the bird will pry open the cage door with its beak.'_


	7. Chapter 7

**Insert typical disclaimer here. For those that don't know, it means I do not own anything from Naruto or Blizzard entertainment.**

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Wave Country

Next morning, Naruto stood in front of the village he once seen years ago during the first C-ranked mission he had. At that time, children were begging for scraps of food or working alongside their parents to earn enough money to buy bread. Many of the buildings were run down and trash was scattered in the streets. Looking at the bustling village now, he was hard pressed to believe that this was the same town. Children were heading to school, men and women were heading to shops filled with goods, and the streets were paved in cobblestone with the smell of the ocean filling the air. Smiling to himself, the feeling of joy swept over him knowing the help that he and the rest of his team gave to this now thriving seaport.

"I guess there is no time like the present." He sighed as he started to walk the main street looking for a guide. As he walked, a few of the locals took note of him and curiously started to follow him, all with a vague recollection of his familiar appearance. In a matter of minutes, Naruto stopped and turned around to see the flock of people following him.

"Can I help you?" Naruto asked with a slight apprehension in his voice. The group of women and children were whispering to each other before a teenage boy wearing tan cargo pants, a white t-shirt, and a fisherman's vest walked up to him.

"You wouldn't happen to be Uzumaki Naruto??" The boy asked.

Scratching his head sheepishly, Naruto smiled, embarrassed by the situation. "That's me. Is something wrong?"

In a moment of recognition, the Hero of Wave now knew exactly what Sasuke was hiding from all those years back at the academy. After fifteen minutes of prodding by the younger children, pleading by women of all sizes and ages, and many autographs later, Naruto managed to find a few people that would be willing to escort him to the places he needed to go.

Unbeknownst to the blond ninja, two groups of eyes kept tabs on his movements and observed all of his actions. One group consisted of Baerach, Anstrum, and Selene who were curious about the boy's mental makeup and the character of his soul. Selene smiled at the way he patiently answered every question the group had. The druid nodded as the ninja conducted himself in a peaceful and sometimes light-hearted manner. Anstrum was still confused as to how the teenager could withstand the evil makeup of the demon lying inside him, or if it was a carefully orchestrated plot to lull everyone into a false sense of security.

The other group of eyes belonged to a trio of young kunoichi. Sakura managed to comfort Ino as best she could after finding out her parents were dead. Following many hours of crying and nostalgic stories from their childhood, the aspiring medic-nin figured the best cure at the moment was to get her friend's mind off of tragic events. After ten minutes of prodding, she managed to lure Ino out with the promise that she'd buy her something stylish. On the way out, they ran into Hinata, who herself was still recovering from recent events. Just the mere coincidence of meeting the Hyuuga heiress managed to remind the other two girls about their plan for their fellow blonde and they convinced Hinata to join them on a simple makeover mission.

Watching her blonde friend as he socialized with the children that approached him, Sakura was immediately brought to happier times with the three academy students that were affectionately called the Konohamaru Corps. She initially made fun of her teammate as he agreed to play ninja with the kids, but everything she saw now made her realize it was just his way.

'_I guess he never wants any child to be denied like he had when he was younger. Maybe Naruto is not really a baka, or maybe he never was.' _The pink haired medic mulled over in her mind.

For Hinata, thoughts were much more personal. _'He always is so kind to others, especially children. He would be a good father. If I could only talk to him…"_

Ino was not the altruistic or romantic type when it came to Naruto. She lingered on thoughts of what colors would look best on him and if she should get an outfit as well. She may have thought about how handsome her fellow fair-haired shinobi was but she also knew how Hinata felt about him. At that moment, she resolved to take the baka out on a date if her friend couldn't work up the nerve. Maybe then they Hyuuga heiress would forget about her shyness and take a chance.

Being the person that Naruto was, he appreciated the attention. Compared to the hate-filled glares and mean spirits of most of the villagers toward him, it was refreshing to be treated with respect and even adoration here.

'_If I could only get that same adoration from someone else.'_

His thoughts were interrupted as one of the villagers that decided to help tapped his shoulder.

"Uzumaki-san, are you ready to go?" the teenager in the fisherman's vest asked.

"Almost." Forming his familiar cross sign, Naruto made three Kage Bunshins to pair up with each person he would be accompanying to stores. The children that were there stood in amazement at one of the ninja's techniques. While he was splitting up the clones, he sensed Hinata, Sakura, and Ino approaching him and turned back to the assembled clones and villagers.

"Go ahead and take these guys to the stores. They already know what they need to grab. In the meantime, feel free to ask them anything within reason." With a cheer, the villagers and clones dispersed toward their destinations.

Turning to his approaching friends, Naruto advanced upon the three kunoichi happily. "Ohayo, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, Hinata-chan. What are you three up to?"

"Not much Naruto." Sakura replied. "Seems like everything turned out nicely around here."

"Hai. They came a long way from what was here before." He stated with a warm smile.

When Hinata saw that infectious smile of his, she almost lost her nerve and went back to her nervous habits around him. Curiosity overcame her within moments and she managed to mutter her question out. "Naruto-kun, what were all the clones for?"

He looked her in the eyes and softened his smile. "It will be a surprise but let's just say I am building something important."

"What is so important that needs building now?" Ino asked. "I thought everything was set in place from what Tsunade-sama said."

"Ma, ma, Ino but this is something special that we will need. As soon as my clones here get the supplies, the ones at a clearing near the bridge will build it."

"You should get it cleared with Tsunade-shishou first, Naruto. We didn't want to leave anything permanent behind when we move the non-combatants out as soon as the Kazekage's ships arrive to take them to their seaport on the southern edge of Wind Country." Sakura lectured, not wanting her friend to do something Naruto-like by building a ramen stand.

"It won't be permanent. It will be coming with us, and we won't be using it until the Kazekage gets here anyways. No use repeating information second-hand when you can get it from an inside source." Naruto stated before thinking of what he said. Faintly in the back of his mind, he could hear Kyuubi slapping his forehead in dismay over the blond's misspoken words.

Luckily, Hinata managed to cover up the misstep. "If you are going to be too busy, Naruto-kun…"

The orange-clad ninja waived off her statement before she could complete it. "Not at all, Hinata-chan. The clones can handle it. Is there something you three need from me?"

Before he could react, Ino grabbed him by the arm and led him down the street. "We're going shopping. Trust me, you'll thank us later."

Seeing the two blonds walk off, Sakura turned to Hinata. "Perfect. Don't worry Hinata. We're getting you something too. I bet you will like the results." She said with a wicked smile before pulling the Hyuuga heiress along to catch up to the others.

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Amekagure

It was rare that Pein ever held council with the rest of the group in person. Ever since the individual missions to capture the nine bijuu or actual jinchuuriki started, there were never more than three members of the Akatsuki in Amekagure at one time. However, current circumstances warranted everyone's presence. Three of the bijuu had been sealed into the statue but at the cost of two of its members. Sasori died at the hands of the Haruno Sakura, the apprentice to the Slug Sannin, and the Suna elder, Chiyo. Deidara was forced to detonate himself in a vain attempt to defeat Orochimaru's apprentice, Uchiha Sasuke, who also managed to defeat the Snake Sannin.

While this might have been a favorable attrition rate, it only meant that it would be harder to extract the rest of the bijuu if they were contained inside jinchuuriki, like the Kyuubi inside of that damnable Uzumaki. It was with this in mind that Pein requested that the team of Immortals bring back the crystal they found. If the power source could augment their strength, then not only would the extraction process be eased but even capturing the beasts would seem trivial.

It was mere minutes ago that the meeting ended. The only team not present was Itachi and Kisame, but that was due to them taking care of the Uchiha that would be an annoyance until he was stopped. Zetsu also had just left after he briefed the leader about the happenings regarding the fall of Konoha and the group of people helping them. The portal ability that they possessed was most interesting, especially since the Kyuubi container wanted to learn it. Adding such a jutsu to the blonde's ever growing repertoire would make him harder to capture.

For Pein, a growing temptation circled around starting his research on the scroll containing the object. Thinking about past events kept him from losing his bearing and rip open the scroll like any gift-wrapped package a child would receive. Ever since Kakuzu handed him the scroll, a connection seemed to linger between himself and the object sealed within. A feeling of longing as well as indomitable power oozed from the object even from behind its casing. Being the self-proclaimed God of Peace, the urge to claim such power for his own means was ever present in his advanced mind.

Kakuzu sat and watched carefully as his leader strained to control himself under the overwhelming desire the crystal object was pushing out through the seals in the scroll. Not even the pocket dimension that the seal created within the scroll seemed to slow down its power. Both he and his partner sweated through the display of inner turmoil and the mere fact that Hidan kept quiet lent to the seriousness of the situation.

They weren't the only two concerned. Zetsu, the master spy of the Akatsuki with a Venus flytrap covering his head, lingered after he was dismissed but only from a shadowy corner of the room. Using his Doton abilities, he was partially melded with the floor in that shadowy corner. With that combination, he was out of sight but had full observation of the scene. Konan, the blue-haired beauty of the organization, was concerned with her longtime partner. Ever since their sensei, Jiraiya, left for Konoha years ago, they started their long march to eliminate war and suffering in the world. Using a super-weapon harnessing the power of the bijuu may have not been the best way to go about it, but her dedication and affection for the man stood long before he named himself Pein. Only now when it seemed that this object was trying to influence him did she have doubts.

In a burst of movement, the spiky auburn haired Rin'negan user snatched the scroll and unsealed it. With a puff of smoke, a blood-red crystal horn was laid out before the self-proclaimed god and his eyes glazed over as he took the horn into his hands and pushed it into his forehead. A blast of energy rushed out from the point of contact, knocking the Immortals and Konan into the far wall, stunning them.

In a separate area of the compound, a lone man in an orange mask felt the evil energy wash over him. His first thoughts were to check on the stability of the sealing statue. With a simple thought, he faded from view in one room and reappeared where the statue was housed. Placing his hand on the structure, he could feel not only the energies of the trapped bijuu but their screams of torment as well.

Knowing that his keys were safe, he realized the only place that energy would have come from was where the rest of the group resided. Sighing that he might have to don his façade of childish behavior, he made his way down the halls to the main conference room where they were meeting.

To everyone else, he was an immature brat that only seemed to linger on the whim of Pein. Only he and his confidant, Konan, knew the man everyone else knew as Tobi was the actual mastermind behind the Akatsuki; Uchiha Madara. For a man like him who had walked the land of the Elemental Countries for centuries, surprises were rare. Everything was to plan and on schedule, from the founding of the clan all the way to his ultimate conquest of immortality and the dethroning of Kami. The next thing that was to come on the schedule was to let the last two Uchiha subdue each other, enabling him to have the lock the keys were supposed to undo. Unfortunately, the sight seen when he appeared in the meeting room was nowhere close to anything he expected or predicted.

Konan, Hidan, and Kakuzu were lying against the stone wall of the room with cracks on the wall where they impacted the barrier. Zetsu was hiding in the corner of the room barely emerging from the stone wall. Pein had a crystal horn imbedded into his forehead and waves of red energy flowing off of him. His absorbed bodies that he used as clones were there and frozen in place as tendrils of the crimson energy pierced them. Suddenly, a greenish-blue smoke lifted from the bodies in the form of a man. As it dispersed, the red energy also subsided and the bodies that represented the entirety of Pein started to mold together. The tendrils that snaked from each clone latched to a portion along Pein's spine. Flesh, bone, sinew, and fluids from the clones were funneled into to the main body as if they were sucked through a straw.

Konan shook the cobwebs free and peered up to see her long-time companion completely changed. Five small spikes were protruding from his spine. Instead of his blue-grey ringed eyes, they were now tinted to a pale yellow but still ringed. Only the tip of the red crystal horn was visible but now it appeared like a real horn. His skin took a reddish tint and seemed scaly while the hair on his head thinned out. A small smile that could freeze over the depths of Makai floated across his face as the new Pein finally spoke.

"**First stage transformation complete. Terror will reign again." **The self-proclaimed Akatsuki leader announced to the assembled ninjas.

"What are you talking about, Pein-sama??" Konan inquired, her voice dripping with concern as she prepared a jutsu. Madara looked on as well while thinking of some way to sway events in his favor.

"**Pein?? That pitiful human that thought he was a God?? I sent his soul to oblivion. I am Diablo, the Lord of Terror and one of the Triumvirate rulers of Hell." **The monstrosity replied.

Before anyone could bat an eye, black flames poured from Madara's lone eye-hole in his orange mask towards the new target.

"It doesn't matter who you are. You are not taking away any of my pawns without retribution." The Uchiha progenitor stated as he watched the Ameratsu flames streak for their victim.

Diablo quickly raised his hands and a ring of red and black flames circled him. Both the Uchiha and Konan stood in complete disbelief as the all-consuming flame of Ameratsu hit and became part of Diablo's fire shield before dissipating completely.

Zetsu looked on as paper user and Madara launched into a fever pitch battle with Diablo. Turning to the two Immortals, he noticed Hidan starting to come around while Kakuzu was still unconscious.

"_It seems that this new development has caused a bit of a problem." _The dark half of Zetsu said while observing the fight.

"Quite a problem." The light half stated as Konan's wave of origami shuriken failed to damage the monstrosity. He stood stunned as the beast thrust out a clawed hand. With the gesture, a circular prison made of bone rose from the ground, capturing the paper ninja.

Konan stood wide-eyed and tried to use any jutsu she could to free herself but found she couldn't mold any chakra from the prison. All she could was watch while her possessed companion ran to her with demonic speed. She raised her hands in a futile effort to preserve her life but before a clawed hand could separate her head from the rest of her body, a clang rang out.

In front of her, scythe met claw and Hidan stood with a grimace firmly gripping his scythe. "You will make a wonderful sacrifice to my God!"

A rumbling growl came from Diablo but prior to any retaliation, a massive lightning bolt launched forth from a blood red tentacled beast with its only human feature was a lone mask floating in the sea of blood.

As the Immortals and the eternal Uchiha waged war with Diablo, Zetsu rose up and freed Konan from her prison. Carefully observing the battle, the Akatsuki spy and the paper ninja spotted Diablo's confusion as each and every attack seemed to phase through Madara while not giving the ninja in the orange mask time to counter-attack.

Just as quickly as the confusion was apparent, it was replaced with mirth and a pair of bone prisons that sprung up to trap the Uchiha and both of the Immortals, as the one masked blood monster was nothing more than a stain on the floor. Diablo calmly walked over to the cage that held Madara, pleased with the results.

"**I know all about you from this pathetic human's memories. While I am pleased that someone else felt the urge to rip Kami from her throne, that is a task for my brothers and I to handle." **The Lord of Terror proclaimed jovially. "**However, I will need every one of your clan's pitiful eyes and those worthless mistakes my father used before this realm can be properly utilized. As for these two fools, I will leave you for my Corpse Devourers to deal with."**

Not giving Diablo a chance to detect him, Zetsu secured Konan to his back and melted back into the floor. There was not much choice for the spy and he headed to Fire Country where he knew the remaining two members to be.

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Otokagure

Sitting on the throne of the Otokage, a tall man draped in dust-colored robes with a hood covering his facial features sat looking upon a kneeling Kabuto. He raised a hand to fondle a yellow crystal that hung from a golden necklace around his neck.

"**Have the preparations for our departure begun?" **the robed figure inquired in his sickly maniacal but regal voice.

"Definitely, Lord Baal. Orochimaru's body has been preserved and supplies gathered. May I inquire on our destination?" Kabuto uttered through gritted teeth. The mere thought of being in a subservient position again was sickening to the master medic.

"**It seems that the last of my brothers has awakened from his temporary slumber. We will be heading there first before retrieving my other wayward brother, Mephisto. I must commend you on your skills. This homunculus that you created held a few wonderful abilities that I will gradually mold into my final form once I am done with the transformation**." Baal gleefully stated. "**We will depart tomorrow night and will travel under the cover of darkness.**"

The Lord of Destruction wistfully waved off Kabuto while his thoughts ran along a simple theme.

'_Soon my brothers, we will be reunited and the plan can commence.'_

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Wave Country

Memories and the consequences of one's actions can sometimes be the most damning thing in life. For Mitarashi Akiri, that was her reality as she sat in a local dango shop. She was working on her fourth bottle of sake with a plate full of dango skewers sitting in front of her. At the time, she was downing sake by the mouthful while gazing at her ROOT mask sitting on the table next to the empty bottles.

Ever since she gotten that mask, or even joined ROOT, her life was saddled with disappointments. Disappointed that she couldn't do more to stop the Kyuubi when it attacked. Disappointed for not keeping in contact with her sister, especially after hearing how she was betrayed and abused by Orochimaru. However, none of that compared to the disgust she had for herself knowing she was the one to bring the crystal to Konoha.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and misery that she never noticed another raven-haired woman sitting down at her table before she picked up a dango skewer and started devouring the dumplings. Glancing up, she saw the one person she didn't want to see at the moment.

"That is some good dango. I might say it is one of the best I ever had." Anko stated randomly after she swallowed the last bite of sweet dumplings before tossing the skewer into a trashcan by the door of the restaurant.

Akiri let out a small grunt followed by another long pull from her sake bottle, downing the liquor, and then slamming the bottle against the table with a resounding thud. She waved to the waiter and put up to fingers before grabbing another skewer. Within minutes, the waiter sauntered over to the sisters, dropped off two bottles of Blue Label Sake, and collected the empty bottles to cart them off.

"Just like you, neechan. You never go with anything but the best." Anko commented while grabbing one of the bottles. "So what is the occasion? It doesn't look like a party. There would need to be some guys around for that, preferably in loincloths."

"You know me, imouto. I always go big when I do anything." The Shrapnel Maiden replied between sips of sake. "Going to lecture me?"

The Snake Mistress swallowed down a dumpling and chased it with sake before commenting. "It would have been nice if you were around more."

Akiri hung her head slightly. "I know I was foolish but I was under orders to remain hidden."

"Foolish?!" Anko screamed out punching the table. "It's idiotic. Why did you go to that man anyways??"

"I never really kept up on politics or factions. All I knew that the guy who recruited me was ANBU and wanted me in a special division." She responded to her imouto. "I just saw it as a way to get stronger and to help protect the village. I didn't notice everything that happened behind the scenes until years later."

Anko sat and stared at her sister. None of what she said seemed to account for the reasons that she already downed four bottles of sake and was working on the fifth. It wasn't just any sake but Blue Label brand made from ingredients from River country imported to a brewery in Snow Country. That brewery made sure to take twice as long to ferment their brew in order to concoct the most potent and flavorful sake around. Add the pile of dango and the scene screamed of someone trying to wash memories away in a fit of indulgence.

"Ultimately it didn't help me to see past the blind loyalty I built up to Danzo-sa..." The elder Mitarashi stated, breaking the younger out of her thoughts. "I didn't see the mistake sooner and trusted in him to handle that crystal. Due to that…" Akiri haltingly said before chugging down the rest of her sake bottle and slamming it to the table with a trembling hand.

In that brief moment of unleashing torment, Anko realized her sister was actually going through everything she did. She blindly followed Orochimaru out of respect, admiration, and even love to some degree. All that left her was being thrown away like the evening garbage and used as an experiment to perfect one of his curse seals. Granted, it wasn't the same as bringing something that led to the loss of so many lives like Akiri's retrieval mission, but it was the same sort of pain.

"At least I am still here, Aki-ne." The Snake Mistress replied, trying to be as comforting as she could.

Akiri scoffed before biting down on a dumpling. "I guess I could go back to covering for your sorry ass."

Anko stood in mock indignation before pouting. "I'll have you know my ass is definitely not sorry. Just ask any man around. My ass is idolized across all of the Elemental Countries."

Her sister could barely hold back her laughter and stood as well. "That is just because they haven't gazed upon mine."

Anko glowered at her before noticing Kakashi walking through the door. Signaling Akiri, they both bent over slightly to accentuate the object of this little contest and prank.

"Oi, One-eye," Anko cooed. "Who has the better ass? Me or my neechan??"

Kakashi looked up from his book and saw how each one of their pants seemed to be taut over their shapely thighs, hips, and asses. As any self-respecting pervert would do when hit with a massive dose of sex appeal, the famous Copy-Nin unceremoniously fainted with a trickle of blood staining his mask under the nose.

Both Mitarashi sisters sighed before shaking their heads in amusement. After sitting back down both women motioned the waiter to bring more sake, resolving themselves to have fun with the poor boys in the joint.

For that brief amount of time, Akiri let a small smile out. _'Arigato, Imouto.'_

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Tazuna's Inn

Tsunade relaxed for the first time in a few days knowing that the miniature Konoha they established was now on a paying basis. The mess hall and medical stations were up and running at peak efficiency. The barracks were sturdy and everyone had shelter when they needed it.

The Suna Kazekage, Subaku no Gaara, as well as his siblings along with a platoon of shinobi, were on their way to augment their forces while the Konoha civilians were being prepped to move to Suna. Gaara's long-time advisor and former Jounin sensei, Baki, was making arrangements for their long-term shelter. He tried to convince the former jinchuuriki to stay behind and let him lead Suna's forces but Gaara insisted that he had a debt to pay to one Uzumaki Naruto and no one would deter him from that.

With everything in motion, the Godaime Hokage decided now was the best time to relax with a good bottle of Blue Label Sake in front of a fireplace. Before she could get the first saucer of sake down, a small coughing noise came from a chair off to her left.

Turning, she saw a grinning blond shinobi. "You know Baa-chan, one of these days all that drinking will catch up to you."

Grunting, she downed the sake quickly. "You mean just like all of the ramen you eat will someday turn you into a fat ass, gaki?"

Crossing his arms, he huffed out his retort. "I'll have you know that ramen is the best food Kami could provide."

"_**I wouldn't say that, kit. It wouldn't kill you to have a nice thick steak and some vegetables once in a while." **_The ever-so-friendly Kyuubi said smirking behind his cage.

'_Shut it, baka Kitsune.'_

Tsunade just grinned mischievously. "I could tell Tazuna not to let any of the stores sell you ramen."

"You wouldn't!" Naruto shouted with the most shocked and scared face the Hokage ever seen him wear.

"Try me. Now why are you bothering me?" She asked turning back to the fire.

Taking a breath to calm himself, he finally got down to the business at hand. "Someone wants to share information with us." He responded while patting his stomach so she would notice it.

"I see. I was wondering when the fox would explain what he would mean by 'upsetting the balance.'" Tsunade said after taking a sip of sake to calm her nerves. The mere idea that the great Kyuubi no Yoko was concerned about events in the world was something to be wary of.

"I am wondering about that as well, but from what little he told me so far, it is that the beings in those objects were the rulers of Makai and are bent of conquering every realm of Creation including burning down Heaven's Gates and destroying Kami." Naruto stated firmly in an attempt to relay the seriousness of their foe.

The look of concern in the blond Hokage's eyes displayed just how serious she was taking this. She motioned him to continue but all she received was a shake of his head.

"I have no other information as of yet, because the baka prefers to give the rest in person. Luckily, I happen to agree. He is a better storyteller than I am." The jinchuuriki grumbled.

"You aren't letting him out, are you??" Tsunade inquired with worry dripping over every syllable.

"Not at all. I couldn't let him out if I wanted to. Actually, he wants us to meet him at his place." Naruto said pointing at his head.

The Godaime laughed at that motion and continued to laugh before Naruto started to get mad. "Enough Baa-chan. It isn't that funny."

"Yes it is." She said wiping a stray tear. "I know there is empty space up there in that head of yours but we can't all fit in there."

"Very funny. So funny that I forgot to laugh. Why do you insist on teasing me??" Naruto replied with a pout.

"Oh knock it off, gaki. It was just a joke. Mind telling me how we are all going to talk to the fox?"

Naruto went into detail as to the purpose of the sweat lodge and its construction. He described exactly what would happen as explained to him by the Kyuubi and what ingredients were in the incense. Tsunade thought over everything and didn't see how anything too bad could happen, but decided it would be best to have some medics ready just in case. Before she could agree on everything, the blond Genin made a request.

"I would think it would be best that not only those that need to know be there, but my friends should be as well." Naruto requested staring into the fire.

"You sure about that??" The Godaime asked, concerned about what could happen when those his age knew of what he held prisoner. Just because Sakura knew and handled it did not mean that everyone else would.

"They should know, especially if any of the Three would recognize his scent on me." He said before sighing. "Also, being with Ino, Hinata, and Sakura today, I realized that I might not get another chance to." Naruto finished while recollecting on how at times during his shopping adventure, he could tell Hinata and Ino were covering up their pain by using the trip as a distraction. He knew that they both lost family and seeing as his friends were the only family he had, he realized it was time to let the truth out.

"And what were you doing with three lovely young ladies? You weren't doing anything Jiraiya would do?" She asked while cracking her knuckles.

Naruto quickly covered up in preparation for one of her massive punches. "NO!! We just went shopping. Ino and Sakura said it was time for me to get a new outfit or two."

"Is that all? Why aren't you wearing it now?" Tsunade asked, arching an eyebrow.

Naruto turned away a little. "I was going to save it for when we met the fox or maybe if I ever have a date."

"A date huh?? Did you see something you liked when you went shopping??" She asked teasingly.

"Nothing!" he shouted quickly. "I didn't see anything. Now, can we get back to what I asked you??"

Tsunade laughed. "You are too easy to tease, Naruto. I will let you decide who to invite other than the people I bring. Gaara will be here tomorrow so he will be there. Plan on having all of the Jounin senseis as well as Jairaya, Yamato, and a couple of the ANBU."

"I guess I should be glad that it will be able to seat that many people. Now if you will excuse me." Naruto stated before dashing back up to his room still blushing.

The Godaime chuckled at the Genin's reaction before pouring more sake into her saucer. _'I will have to get more details about that shopping trip later. Maybe Naruto is growing up, even if just a little.'_

_

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(A/n): Every one having fun? Please review and let me know what you think so far.


	8. Chapter 8

**Typical Disclaimer of how I don't own anything right now. If I did own Naruto and Diablo, there would have been a crossover movie a long time ago.**

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Naruto's Room

Naruto dashed into his room, quickly slamming the door and resting against it. Relief dripped off the teenage shinobi along with sweat from the nervousness of the situation. In no circumstance was he going to tell Tsunade-baachan anything about the shopping trip when he was unsure of what happened in the first place.

Ino and Sakura dragged Hinata and him to every clothing store in the village. Just being in the store without using a Henge was amazing, but it left him hollow knowing this would never happen in Konoha. Those feelings were only amplified as he was measured for properly fitting clothes, not to mention how the strange looks he got when he was standing in his boxers while getting measured made him feel.

'_It was embarrassing enough that Sakura-chan saw me but so did Ino and Hinata. I just wish I knew what Sakura said to Hinata that made her run holding her nose.' _He thought, slightly baffled about the experience.

"I don't think I'll ever figure out some people." He quietly spoke to no one in particular as he turned around to lock the door. Naruto never really trusted locks such as the dead bolts and chain locks on his door, especially with some of his past experiences, but he locked them all the same.

With the final lock snapping into place, a voice called up from behind him. "I believe it is time for us to have a conversation about the beast within you."

Naruto's heart froze in his chest along with his breath. Instinctively he dropped his kunai that was hidden under his sleeve into his waiting hand and calmly turned around to confront the intruder.

* * *

Sakura heard the slamming door from her neighbor and shook her head. "Why does Naruto have to be so loud at times?" She asked quietly while taking a sip from her saucer.

Ino stared at her long-time friend and compatriot before taking downing the drink in her saucer as well. "At least he is lucky; all of his friends are still around. Even the chef and his daughter from the ramen shop made it out alive. Could you imagine how he would be if any of them died? Or even one of us?" She choked out quickly reaching for the large white bottle to fill it once again.

Hinata hung her head and shed tears for her father that she hoped was with her mother in the afterlife. She didn't know why she came along with them after the shopping adventure. It was the only bright spot in the days since the attack. Even the removal of the Caged Bird seal from the remaining Branch members wasn't a good memory. It was lacking warmth and light. It was lacking her father and even though she was stoic as Hiashi was, inside her heart was breaking, knowing the achievement of her second most cherished goal came at the cost of one of her most precious persons in her life.

Looking at the saucer in front of her, Hinata grasped it lightly and brought it to her lips. As she was about to take the sake in, she stopped and remembered the events of the day. She not only saw how caring Naruto was to the people here but how nervous and shy he was at times during the shopping trip. A small blush crept up on her face as she recalled his toned body, crystal blue eyes and sunshine blonde hair on display while the _man_ of her dreams was being measured. The combined memory of the day somehow brought her wandering thoughts to when she spotted him coming to the caravan's aid. It was obvious how much concern he had for the Godaime as he sprinted to her side. Just once she wished that concern was visible for her.

Sakura finished her drink and glanced at the two friends that were with her. "I remember how he was at the funeral of the Sandaime. He was so heart-broken. It was the first time I ever saw him cry. The other one was when Gaara died. If that elder from Suna didn't bring him back from the dead, I think he might have lost it."

"He honestly cares about all of us doesn't he?" Ino stated solemnly as she finished another saucer.

"H-Hai. He always has." Hinata replied after drying her eyes, remembering the boy who encouraged her either by example or those words he shouted out during the first Chuunin exams. "I just wish he would care differently about me."

Sakura sighed thinking about the same boy and all the times he would go all out no matter what the task or mission. Right along with that determination was a small amount of childishness that seemed to overwhelm all of his good qualities. "You know how Naruto is. He needs to be shown love, even in the slightest amount, before he gives it. He only latched onto me because of how I treated him once in the park."

Both girls looked at the medic-nin curiously before she continued. "No one really played with him. All the adults told us kids to stay away from him. I remember my kaasan telling me he was trouble and to stay clear of him. Every day, I would see him just swinging on a lone tree swing in the corner of the park. Once I played with him a little while no one was looking. I was just curious about him and why he was trouble but all he seemed to be was a goofy energetic boy. Unfortunately, Kaasan saw me playing with him and grabbed me. I was grounded for a week and I just stayed away. I didn't see him again until the first day at the Academy and he latched onto me ever since."

Ino looked at her in bewilderment before she spoke. "If he wasn't that bad, why didn't you ever go out with him, Forehead??"

"Pig, I just don't have the patience for him. He is a baka when it comes to relationships. You'd have to walk him through manners, dating, and many other things." Sakura replied with a hint of frustration before turning to Hinata. "You would probably be the best person to handle someone like him. I've never seen you lose your temper. All you've got to do is show him you care."

Hinata blushed thinking of a few ways that could be done, but every one she was too scared to try before.

Before anyone could further the conversation, a loud voice could be heard.

"_Don't you dare compare me to them?! I would never betray the people I care about!! I'd die first!"_

The three of them turned to each other, shocked with what was being spoken, especially since each of them recognized the voice. Quickly, they scampered to the wall adjacent to Naruto's room, gathered some chakra to their ears, and listened in.

**

* * *

**

Naruto's Room – minutes ago

Naruto grit his teeth as he saw three of the newcomers calmly sitting on chairs around a round table in the living area. Seeing neither Alexia nor Baerach was not disconcerting in the least. The main problem he had with his visitors was the one who spoke, the holy man Anstrum. Ever since he met the man at the inn, the paladin had always regarded Naruto with contempt. Any attempt to get on some sort of friendly terms with the man was pointless, and now he was standing in the same room with him.

Gripping the kunai tighter, Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared at Anstrum. "Mind telling me what you are doing in my room?? Did you come to talk or fight?"

The stately holy man grimaced slightly before speaking. "If it was up to me, I would want to exorcise that demon inside of you, but it isn't up to me." He stated glancing at Alexia.

"Calm yourself, Anstrum. We are not here to pass judgment or throw out accusations. All that is needed is information." Baerach said evenly.

"You could have asked earlier instead of following me around or sitting here in my room like a bunch of assassins." The blond shinobi responded, openly showing his distaste for their actions.

Alexia put up a hand in an effort to relieve the tension in the room. "We didn't want to make a scene in any way. All we want to know is why Anstrum has been sensing that demonic energy in you. My other friend here has stated that there is a bit of a bestial aspect to you as well."

"And who says I want to talk about it with you?" Naruto growled. "I haven't explained it to any of my teammates. What makes you think you have the right to know?"

"Why shouldn't we know?" Anstrum said. "I've seen plenty of good men and women turn to Mephisto. What makes you so different? How wouldn't you be like any of your villagers?"

Naruto exploded, "Don't you dare compare me to them!! I would never betray the people I care about!! I'd die first!!"

"And this is why we want to know." Alexia stated. "We've heard and seen how much of an honorable and good man you are. We just don't understand how that relates to the aura and energies that screams demon."

"Just like the villagers! They always saw that damn fox and never me!" the blond screamed as he collapsed on his rear, sitting leaning against the door. Instantly, he knew he said too much.

Alexia and Baerach nodded to each other before glancing over at their teammate and companion. The dark-skinned paladin only stared at the teenager in disbelief. He could hear the pain, hurt, and sadness etched in every word and breath coming from the blond. That moment set his mind at ease.

'_It seems that teenager is still that and nothing more. Whatever that demonic taint is, it has not affected who he is. By all that is holy, it seems the only thing that has affected him is the actions of others. It appears that I may have been much too hasty in my judgment of him.'_

As the thoughts ran through his mind, his companions could see the change in his thinking clearly displayed on his face. Where a cautious and skeptical look lay, now only curiosity and regret remained.

Alexia walked over and calmly put a hand on the teenager's shoulder. "We know you are a good person, Naruto. Your actions with the people of this village are proof enough of that. Please explain what it is that you mean by 'not seeing you'. We need to know what this fox you speak of is."

Naruto raised his head and peered into the comforting eyes of the woman before nodding in agreement to answering their questions. The assassin helped him to his feet and escorted them to the table the trio was originally seated at.

* * *

Sakura gasped as she realized he was going to tell what she learned while on the missions to rescue Gaara and to capture the Akatsuki spy. She came to terms with what was sealed inside Naruto during those assignments but failed to work up the courage to talk to him about what she'd figured out.

To her left, she observed Ino's behavior. She was nervous and fidgeting as if she had an idea what was coming but was unsure if she wanted to hear it. Next to her was Hinata whose expression was one of _extreme_ concentration. It was as if her world was entirely built upon the words that were uttered from her idol's lips. Sakura smiled and hoped her view of the blond would not change.

* * *

The stately Paladin sat back down after fetching a freshly brewed kettle of tea and a set of saucers. It was a habit he picked up from Deckard Cain during the long journeys with the Horadric Sage. Before discussing anything that was too uncomfortable, he would always brew a batch of Chamomile tea to help calm the nerves and soul.

Filling a saucer, he placed it in front of the jinchuuriki. "Drink this. It will help calm you down."

Naruto looked at Anstrum strangely before taking a sip in curiosity. The mellow taste of the warm tea seemed to instantly relax his tense shoulders and bring a calmed visage to the blond.

"Now you are calm, what is this fox that you were talking about? Is that the source of the demonic aura about you?" Anstrum inquired.

"The fox is called Kyuubi no Yoko or Kyuubi no Kitsune. It is a giant nine-tailed beast that attacked Konoha almost sixteen years ago." Naruto said solemnly.

"So why would you have that aura or the villagers think you are the fox?" Alexia asked.

"I was born on the day the fox attacked. Many of the shinobi tried to defeat the demon but nothing worked. In a last ditch effort to save the village, the Yondaime Hokage used a forbidden fuuinjutsu to seal the demon in me by entering into a contract with the Shinigami. The cost was the Yondaime's life and his soul." He replied with his head bowed in reverence to the sacrifice made to preserve his village.

* * *

Glancing out of the corner of her eyes, Sakura noticed Ino backing away from the wall. Looking at her fully, she noticed her childhood friend was stunned past the point of coherent thought. She could see Ino trying to make words come out but they failed to escape her throat.

"What is it Ino?" Sakura asked worried about her friend.

"He… He… He's a monster?? How… How can that be??" Ino said shocked at what she learned.

The pink-haired medic grabbed her friend before she lost herself in the spiral of negative thoughts. "Listen here Ino. Naruto is definitely not a monster. How could that baka be a bloody-thirsty demon?? You've seen him eat bowl after bowl of ramen for Kami's sake! Would a demon eat ramen and not tons of meat??"

"Demo…"

"No, don't even try Ino. You remember how hard he tries to protect his friends or how he comforted Konohamaru after Asuma's death. Would a demon do that?!" Sakura emphatically scolded her childhood friend.

Hearing those words seemed to turn on a switch in Ino's mind and it was clearly evident on her face when she spoke. "I… I guess not." She said meekly.

"Good, now if you don't mind, let's listen to the rest." The medic mentioned before placing her ear back on the wall. In the corner of her eye, she watched as Hinata fidgeted even more as if she was about to bolt from the room. Sakura only hoped that she would hold out. When she concentrated back on the conversation in the neighboring room, she noticed Naruto speaking rather quietly.

* * *

"Originally, I had no idea why they hated me. I heard them whispering when they thought I couldn't hear. Even though they called me a monster, I didn't understand why. All I knew was that they hated me, kept the kids away from me, made it hard for me whenever they could. They hated me so much that not even the orphanage would feed me properly. I managed to get by until the Sandaime moved me out of there and got me my apartment. It wasn't anything much but between them and the ramen stand I ate at, I was safe for a while." He said with his words laced with the pain of his past.

Baerach grunted gaining the attention of Naruto. "Others have a tendency to hate either what they don't understand or things that remind them of loss. Anger comes from pain, fear, or sadness. In your case, you were the personification of all three."

"How did you manage to get through?" the dark-haired Alexia asked.

"There was a law that kept anyone my age from knowing about the demon being sealed in me. It didn't stop those damn adults from taking any manner of suffering out on me." Naruto stated while clenching a fist. "I tried to work up any happiness that I could, so I turned to doing pranks; because of them, I managed to gain some attention from kids my age – and one teacher in particular. It didn't change the villagers' minds one bit, though. They still saw me as a monster." Naruto answered with a tear trickling down his face. "Luckily, over time, I managed to find more friends and even those I would consider family. I was fortunate that all of those that I call precious are still alive. If it wasn't for my friends that I found in my life, I don't know what I would have become."

Anstrum only had one more question to ask of the teen. "How did you find out if the children weren't told and you didn't know?"

"The night I found out was the night I graduated from the Academy. One of the senseis tricked me cause no one really taught me anything plus having that damn fox screws with my chakra. I failed the graduation exam and he conned me into stealing a scroll to pass the exam. On that night, I learned the truth: that I was a walking prison. When I found out he was a traitor, I refused to give him the scroll." Slowly, Naruto stood and lifted his jumpsuit to reveal his stomach and the seal that resided there. "This is the seal that keeps him locked up. It is because of this one fact that I have been hated, scorned, ridiculed, and unloved. From what you said earlier, it was my existence that brought all that Mephisto needed."

* * *

The trio gasped as they learned everything about Naruto's horrid past and his terrible burden. Sakura shed a few tears knowing that she ridiculed him constantly when he was younger. It probably only added to his pain. Turning to Hinata, she barely made out the words she mouthed before bolting out the door with tears streaming down her face.

"No more, Naruto-kun."

* * *

Alexia, Baerach, and Anstrum took all of this information in stride. It did explain about the demonic and bestial auras. While the three understood how these demons could be sealed away from personal experience, how the teen could withstand its influence was beyond them. No demon would ever deal with the emotions of Light; all of the emotions that come from the heart. All a demon knew was the basic emotions that come from animal instincts.

Before they could find out more, a loud knocking came to the door.

Composing himself, Naruto turned and opened the door quickly, thinking that something was wrong. He instantly saw Hinata standing there with tears streaming out of her eyes.

"What happened, Hinata?? Are you…" Naruto managed to get out before Hinata latched on to him while crying her heart out. The sudden contact left him frozen for a few seconds before his brain restarted.

Slowly wrapping his arms around the Hyuuga heiress, he tried to console her. "It's going to be alright." He repeated over and over while rubbing his hand in small circles in the middle of her back.

Hinata removed her head from his chest where she left his top damp from the amount of tears she shed. Looking up at her crush and idol, she choked out the words that ran in her head since she heard his secret through the wall. "Gomennasai, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Nani?"

She peered at him with her pearl-like eyes, willing every bit of feeling she held back for years to be sent to him. "I… I should have said something sooner. I never hated you."

Realization swept over him _'Oh crap. She must have heard everything.'_

"Hinata, Please don't…" He said in an attempt to keep her quiet but a pair of fingers from her covering his lips silenced every word he tried to say.

"Let me finish, Naruto-kun. I cared about you for a long time, back even before the days at the academy. You didn't have to feel alone and you don't have to carry your burden by yourself anymore." She replied looking into his eyes as if trying to project the meaning behind her words to the blond.

For Naruto, his mind was lost in the words Hinata just uttered. He never once thought at any time that someone would honestly care for him after learning of his burden. Such a dramatic show of support and concern for his well-being started the formation of tears that he rarely shed.

"She is right, Naruto. You aren't really alone. There are those of us that are your friends and even a couple that truly love you that would be glad help share the burden. I just wonder why you didn't say anything sooner?" Sakura asked after she stood beside her teammate placing a hand on his left shoulder. Ino was on the other side of him glancing at the boy curiously.

His response was barely louder than a whisper but no one failed to hear his words. "I thought everyone would hate me. I couldn't lose my friends."

Sakura grinned back at him. "At times, you really are a baka. If I didn't hate you after what happened at the bridge when you fought Orochimaru, how could I hate you if you told us the truth?"

Naruto smiled and finally let out the tears he was holding in, but in happiness. For the first time since he could ever remember, he wasn't really afraid of rejection anymore. Finally, he knew that at least some of his friends would accept him. He hugged Hinata a little tighter before letting go and gave his friends a heartfelt smile.

"Arigato. What you have all said means a lot to me. Arigato." Naruto stated warmly.

Ino was a mess of emotions and thoughts. _'He fought Orochimaru?! And he is still alive?! He also is shedding tears just knowing someone actually cares. I guess I shouldn't have thought Naruto was a monster. He is just Naruto.'_

Naruto wiped his tears away before turning back to Anstrum. "What about you? Concerned anymore?"

The holy man shook his head. "Not really. I guess we just have to make sure your seal holds."

"Good. I didn't want to repeat myself." Naruto said with a small laugh. "Especially when the baka has some information for us about Mephisto and the other two." He heard a slight growl before getting slapped on the back of the head.

"Naruto, you baka. Why haven't you told us about that yet?" Sakura asked in a frustrated huff.

"Itai!! Kuso!! Do you have to hit so hard Sakura-chan??" Naruto said while rubbing his head. "Why do you think I was building that lodge in the first place??"

"So you **are** building a spirit lodge then??" Baerach inquired with a rumbling tone.

"Yeah, that's right. I didn't know if I would ask all of the right questions so I wondered if there was a way to let everyone talk to the fox. He gave me the idea."

Hinata shuddered a moment at a thought that ran through her mind. "Wouldn't the fox be able to get out or get at us??"

"No need to worry, young one." The druid stated sagely. "Spirit lodges only work to connect one's mind to nature and the spirit realm. Damage can't be done to one during that sort of communion."

"We aren't going to be seeing anyone's private thoughts or memories will we??" Ino asked, slightly horrified at the idea of anyone finding out any of her most intimate thoughts.

"No. Under a mass communion, the mind or minds initiating the contact end up creating the space where the spirits or the other persons or beings in the communion come to." Baerach informed the group.

All three of the girls sighed in relief at that proclamation. Quickly, Naruto ushered everyone out, wanting to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the big day since Gaara would arrive and everyone else would know the secret. Everyone said their good-byes except for Hinata, who waited for the rest to leave.

"Is something wrong Hinata?" Naruto asked curiously, cocking his head to the side. Hinata took a deep breath before walking briskly up to him, kissing his cheek, and then dashing out of the room.

Naruto stood there, mouth open and cheeks blushing while he touched the spot where she kissed him. The spot felt warm and tingly and left him in a daze as he robotically shut the door and went over to his bed, where he promptly fainted.

**

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**

Near the Great Naruto Bridge

It was two days when the shopping expedition when the spirit lodge was completed by Naruto's clones along with the help of a few friendly villagers. Gaara had arrived the day before and Naruto was anxious to see his friend and get the little talk with the fox over with. However, Gaara had insisted on resting from the long boat ride over.

Tsunade had overseen the embarkation of all Konoha civilians onto the boat to head back to Suna, which left the encampment with essential personnel only. She initially regretted sending some of the people along to strengthen Suna and protect the civilians, but in the end it was necessary. Leading the contingent of forty shinobi to the allied village was Shizune, Iruka, and Ibiki, along with one ANBU squad. With three squads of Jounin and Chuunin from Suna and the Sabaku siblings, there was a decent strike force assembled. Between the remnants of the Konoha Eleven with their senseis, the remaining ANBU, and the remaining Hyuuga, Akimichi, Inuzuka, and Aburame, there were forty-seven battle ready shinobi and one determined Genin in the strike force residing in Wave. It would have been four determined Genin if Naruto didn't order the Konohamaru Corps onto the boat to "ensure that one future Hokage be with each group".

Tsunade and Jiraiya devised a decent game plan to lead up to the attack to liberate Konoha. Within the next two weeks, information from Deckard Cain and the Sanctuary Five would be used to train the strike force in the abilities and vulnerabilities of Mephisto's horde. A third and final week would be used to go through the attack plan to ensure everyone played their role perfectly.

All that was left was one task. It was this duty that had the group assembled here in front of a large canvas dome tied together by leather bindings and supported by wooden spires that Yamato created through his Mokuton jutsu. The Konoha Eleven and their senseis were gathered along with the Sanctuary Five, and the Mitarashi sisters. In front of them stood Tsunade, Jiraiya, Gaara and his siblings, the final two remaining clan heads Inuzuka Tsume and Aburame Shibi, and a very nervous Naruto.

Hinata instantly noticed Naruto standing there, finally realizing he was wearing one of the outfits for which he had been fitted. The top was a sleeveless white silk gi with the edges in cerulean blue embroidered with thin orange spirals. The gi was tied with a sash colored like the sea which also matched the loose fitting silk pants and sandals he wore. Her breath quickened as she swore he looked like one of the heroes from the Princess Fuun movies that she liked to watch. In her mind, her crush never looked better and he was dressed befitting the hero she always thought him to be. His ravenously good looks did not disguise his nervousness with the situation. Butterflies formed in her stomach but both her heart and mind won out over her personality.

She walked over to Naruto. "Ohayo, Naruto-kun. How are you feeling?"

Naruto looked at the heiress and one word came to mind: _'Beautiful.'_ All of the anxiety from the situation to come washed away as he took in her beauty. Her kimono was fitted enough to show the curves she held underneath her bulky jacket but still managed to leave some things to the imagination, which was now running wildly. The kimono was made from fine royal purple silk with a peach flower design along the sides. The edges of the kimono were trimmed with a thin strip of red silk which matched both the decorative bow and the wrap she held from her elbows to around her hips. The kimono draped down to mid calf and was loose enough around her lower halfin order to show off her legs as she walked.

Hinata noticed how his eyes became glazed over as he stared at her, which brought her to blush a shade so close to the wrap she held. Tsunade glanced at the Genin and smiled, knowing that the blond teen had short-circuited. She remembered something similar happening the time her lover saw her dressed in a kimono on their first date.

Smiling knowingly, she nudged Naruto and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "This is usually the point where you say something instead of just staring at her."

The words and their ensuing nudge broke Naruto out of his thoughts and a genuine smile stretched from ear to ear. "Sugoi, Hinata-chan you look amazing."

"Arigato, Naruto-kun." She managed to squeak out. "You look very handsome in that."

Naruto scratched his head. "I'm glad you like it. I guess Ino and Sakura knew what they were doing taking me to that last store."

"You're damn right. We are so good, aren't we Sakura?" Ino declared loudly. Sakura smiled and gave her friend a hi-five.

"Enough fun for now." Tsunade said while shaking her head with a slight look of disbelief. "We have something important to cover. I assume that most of you have no idea why we are standing in front of this." She said motioning to the lodge. Seeing the look of curiosity, she motioned to Baerach and Naruto to explain.

"This is called a spirit lodge. It is designed to allow persons to fall into a meditative state to commune with nature and spirits." The burly druid replied while letting a dire wolf eat pieces of meat from his hand.

"Mind telling us why we are all standing here then? Is this some sort of training or are we actually going to commune with some 'spirit'?" Kiba asked sarcastically as he gave finger quotes to the idea of talking to spirits.

Naruto was about to speak but was beaten to the punch by Shikamaru. "Kiba, sometimes you are way too troublesome. It's obvious we are going to be speaking with Naruto's prisoner. An effort to gain information, right?"

Naruto paled at the thought. "What do you mean??"

Neji answered for the lazy Chuunin. "He is talking about the demon fox you have locked away in your stomach, Naruto."

The blonde sputtered as he tried to wrap his mind around how two of his friends already knew what was going on. "H-How??"

"It's quite easy, Naruto. Between the red chakra you use on rare occasions, villagers calling you a monster, and the Akatsuki coming after you twice, what else could it be?" Shikamaru said, taking a drag off a lit cigarette.

"I realized it after the match we had in the finals. With my Byakugan, I saw your red chakra take the shape of a fox head over your stomach. I inquired Hiashi-sama about it after things quieted down from the Sound attack. He got permission from the council to explain it to me." Neji explained.

All of the adults were looking on the young teenagers present to see their reaction to the news. Lee and Tenten didn't seem concerned at all. Shino betrayed no emotions as he normally did. Ino and Sakura merely peered at Naruto with understanding smiles, which Sai tried his best to copy. Hinata grasped Naruto's hand which immediately calmed the boy down.

He glanced at the girl and a small grin washed over his face. _'Why is it that she knew what to do to calm me down? It's so weird, but a good kind of weird.'_ He thought to himself.

That train of thought ended when Kiba spoke up. "No wonder you had a slight fox scent about you. Why didn't you tell us about that kitsune stuck in your belly? From all of the times we ditched detention in the Academy to when we tried to bring back the Uchiha, I figured you would have trusted us by now!"

"It isn't the easiest thing in the world to bring up, dog-breath. I had enough people hating me that I didn't want to add to that list." Naruto growled back.

Chouji shook his head. "I guess that was why you ate so much ramen. You were eating for two. It was probably why you beat me in all of those ramen races."

"I can't believe this!" the blonde exclaimed. "You find out that I have been hiding the fact that the Kyuubi, the _KYUUBI_, of all things is locked in my stomach and you worry about me beating you in an eating contest?!"

For a while, both Jiraiya and Tsunade watched the conversation but decided to take matters into their own hands when it spiraled out of control. The Toad Sannin calmly walked up behind Naruto and clamped his hand over the blond's mouth. Tsunade took the time to explain the situation.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the real reason we are here. The Kyuubi actually has personal information about the bastard that took our home away from us. Between Kyuubi and Naruto, they decided on doing this communion in order for everyone to interrogate the fox directly." The Godaime explained to the gathered shinobi.

"That's good 'cause we all know Naruto would forget something." Sakura chided her teammate which warranted a muffled groan out of the subject of her derision.

"I would have just wanted the Jounin along with Jiraiya and myself doing the interrogation, but Naruto insisted that the rest come along or at least get the opportunity to hear everything first hand. It was necessary to have everyone know since it is possible that our new enemy could easily recognize the Kyuubi inside of Naruto and try to do something to free it or attack him." The Hokage finished explaining. "All those who do not feel the need to participate in the communion can leave."

After a few well wishers left giving Naruto their heart-felt support, more than a dozen people were still there. The nervousness Naruto felt was replaced with a relative calm knowing that most his friends were upset with him about holding back his secret from them and not about having the fox inside him.

The remaining group moved into the lodge. Inside was a ring of seating cushions on top of carpet circling a rock-lined fire pit with a small cauldron sitting atop a small pile of wood in the center.

"I guess I should explain how this is supposed to work. After we light the cauldron and the incense inside start to fill the lodge, I will push a certain amount of chakra to the vapors while meditating. At that time you guys will start to meditate and breathe in the vapors. Once you breathe in the vapors, add a small amount of chakra to the air and continue meditating." Naruto said.

Kakashi had already put his book away and glanced curiously into the cauldron to see many different psychotropic herbs bobbing in a broth of mineral water. "Is this stuff safe to breathe??"

"I have performed something like this before when I first made contact with the spirit guardians. There are no long term effects but I would recommend a full meal afterwards to regain some strength." Baerach stated.

Everyone nodded in agreement and sat down on the cushions. Naruto and Hinata sat near the entrance with Jiraiya and Tsunade flanking them. Everyone else took a seat wherever it was available. The Toad Sannin used a small Katon jutsu to light the fire pit and the group waited as the mixture heated.

It took about ten minutes before the vapors started filling the air. At that point, Naruto pushed out a small stream of chakra into the hot mist. Most of the chakra was blue but had hints of red swirling around the stream. As people sank into their meditative trances, each one would push out small doses of chakra or mana. Sense of time was soon lost before a white flash appeared in their vision. The group rubbed their eyes, trying to rid themselves of the blurriness before their actions froze from hearing a deep menacing voice.

"**Welcome. It is so nice to meet you all in person."**

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_(A/N): I hoped everyone has enjoyed the story so far. If anyone has some suggestions, let me know. I am placing a poll on my profile. I would like to know which story you prefer, this one or my other epic. Your votes may determine how quickly I will update one story or the other._


	9. Chapter 9

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I don't own Naruto or Diablo II or even anything from Stephen King. Would be nice to have that kind of cash if I did. What a shame!

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The group finally cleared their vision and found themselves in front of the chamber Naruto found the Kyuubi in a few days ago. They stood on the opposite side of the glass in a semi-circle and watched as the man facing them peered over his ruby-colored sunglasses at them. He smirked, barely containing a mirthful chuckle before walking over to the barrier and leaning against it by pressing his forearms to the thick glass window while his arms crossed above his head. These actions prompted the unbuttoned jean jacket to part and tighten the red shirt across his developed but not overly muscular chest.

His eyes scanned the group, letting them know he was drinking in their appearances before settling in on a blond woman with piercing brown eyes. Her long locks flowed down her back and her ample assets were contained within a silver sleeveless mesh top that stopped at her midriff. A pair of peach colored fingerless gloves stretching to each elbow adorned her hands. Her ensemble was capped off by a pair of gray Capri pants and her usual black stilettos that strapped just above the ankle.

"**I have no idea why Kit decides to call you Baa-chan. You definitely look more delicious than any moniker could describe." **The fox said appreciatively, licking his lips as a point of emphasis.

A small blush accompanied the vengeful glare that Tsunade usually delivered to the perverted men of the village. Dan was the last one who ever called her delicious and the mere mention of the word brought back those loving memories before she regained her composure.

"Oi! What do you think you are playing at, Fox? We are here for information only. I have no need to deal with your perverted thoughts. I get enough of that from Gama-baka here." She replied while jabbing a thumb toward Jiraiya's direction, only to stop when she noticed his new form.

It wasn't the clothing that changed. It was still the same as it has been for the past ten years. The shocker was instead of the slightly flabby and aged shinobi, the Toad Sannin was lean and well built. Even his face lost some of the wear of middle-age and was replaced with the firm visage of his early twenties.

"I didn't think you were one for using a henge to appear younger, Jiraiya." She mentioned to her long time teammate.

"What do you mean? You are the one who looks younger than you normally do." The Toad Sage retorted.

The argument that was going to ensue ended abruptly with the laugh coming from the imprisoned host. **"If you think that is rich, you should check out Kit and his Vixen."**

All who managed to gather in that place swiveled their heads around until they spotted a blond that didn't appear as his normal self. He seemed taller and more serious than ever before. The normal spiky blond locks were longer in length and flowed around his head and neck like a mane of a lion. His outfit was a bit cliché but seemed to match this more serious and rugged look. He wore a black shirt and pants that seemed to be neither leather nor cloth but some sort of hardened shell. The only coloring to the outfit was orange slash marks. There was only one on each side near the rib area and they held the image of a clawed attack. Naruto's ensemble was completed with steel capped boots and a black trench coat with orange flames lining the edges.

Across his hip was a holster attached to his belt by his hitai-ate. Resting there was a mace one half meter in length. The weapon consisted of a ball-shaped head that resembled the color of the rasengan with numerous studs along its surface and an oak handle etched with many runes.

Next to him was no longer a teenage kunoichi but a woman whose image radiated strength and resolve. Her hair was done up so it appeared short just like the style of her Genin days save for one long pony tail that wrapped around her left shoulder and fell down to her chest. Her forearms and calves were wrapped in leather bindings and metal guards while her chest was 'covered' in a sense by a molded leather halter top over a mesh undershirt. Her ensemble was topped off by a pair of form fitting shorts that stopped around mid-thigh and a leather half-skirt that ended at the knee, keeping her derrière from being scrutinized too heavily. The attire left some things to the imagination, but those were few and far between. Lashed to her hips was a pair of metal tipped staves, each a half meter in length and adorning the Hyuuga crest alongside a familiar swirl design.

Naruto was the first to notice her outfit and was left a blubbering mess with eyes as big as saucers. _'Wow… When did Hinata… Wow,' _was all that Naruto's short-circuited mind could muster.

Hinata was not much better; however, for the first time she neither fainted nor blushed. Instead, a slight amount of drool dripped from her agape mouth. _'He's so… so… yummy! I want. Gimme!'_

The rest of the assembled group smirked and made offhand comments either to a certain brat growing up or an heiress coming out of her shell. Those murmurs continued until the being behind the barrier spoke.

"**As much as we might want to ogle everyone's merchandise, I believe we should get down to business."**

"Ok fox, what is up with these outfits! Not that they aren't cool or anything, but I don't remember wearing this!" Naruto demanded.

"**Don't get yourself worked up over that. What you see know is called Soul Image. It is the combined image of both who you want to be and the character of your soul."**

"So why then do some of us look younger or older than we usually do?" Kakashi asked.

"The age of your appearance relates to the age of your soul. Events that occur during one's life sometimes age a person or can make them feel younger. Self-esteem also plays a role into the age of our Soul Image." Baerach remarked.

"**Quite correct. You must have done this before." **When the druid nodded, the fox continued with his explanation. **"If everyone is quite finished with this, we should get on with the reason we are all gathered here."**

Shikamaru decided to make the opening volley. "As troublesome as this could be, could you explain how you know Mephisto?"

A scowl formed on the demon's face. **"He and his problematic brothers were the ones who kicked me out of Makai. Those three when they became of age got the wise idea to conquer **_**everything.**_** First thing they did was to lock Lucifer, the Incarnation of Evil, away and eliminate all of his supporters and wardens. I was one of the wardens and I guarded the Ninth Circle. The most evil and despicable of beings were locked away there under the rules of the Covenant."**

"What is this 'Covenant'?" Neji asked stoically as ever.

"**Ahh. The Hyuuga that the Kit beat up a few years ago. No longer the arrogant twit I see. Good, you will need to keep your humility now." **Neji grimaced at the fox's comments, but it seemed the being paid no mind to his facial expression. **"The Covenant is the agreement that Kami and Lucifer made in the Beginning. It is the rules that govern Creation. Any more I am not permitted to say under the rules of the Covenant."**

Jiraiya crossed his arms and shook his head. "I never for the life of me thought the all-mighty Kyuubi would be so worried about sticking to the rules."

Unexpectedly**, **the demon slammed his hand into the window, catching everyone's full attention. **"Do not trifle with me, mortal! Unless you want Azrael or the Shinigami as you know him, to come down here and snatch both me and Kit away, I suggest you mind your tongue when dealing with things you know nothing about. Furthermore, my name was only given by those in this place, and I find the name distasteful. I much prefer either the name I am known in Makai, Anterus, or the name of my current image, Randall Flagg. I used this form when I traveled in one of the other realms looking for either a way back to Makai or to send deviants to where they belonged. How was I to know that dimwitted spectacled freak would use me in his stories?"**

"Oi, fox. Can we…"

"**YOU WILL NOT CALL ME FOX ANYMORE KIT! USE ONE OF THE TWO NAMES I GAVE OR WE END THIS CONVERSATION! IF IT WASN'T FOR THE WILL OF THE COVENANT AND THE NEED FOR BALANCE, I WOULD LET YOU FIGHT **_**BLINDLY**_**!" **the otherworldly being shouted, making everyone recoil slightly.

Naruto took a couple breaths and calmed his nerves. Noticing Hinata, Sakura, and a couple others shaking from the outburst, he stepped forward and confronted the demon. "Now listen up, _Randall Flagg_, you need us as much as we need your information. It would be better if you played nice with us."

"**I always knew you had more balls than brains, Kit. I think for that, I might call you by your name once in a while." **The demon said with a wry smile.

"Whatever." He replied with a wave of his hand. "Back to what we wanted to know, the last time you talked to me about those guys you said they were the sons of Lucifer and when they were last sealed, it was incomplete?"

"**Not incomplete, Naruto, but some of their essence escaped back to Makai. From what I could tell of their stench when they arrived, they are not as incomplete as last time. However, they also seemed to have additional scents to them."**

"Additional scents?? Like they are more than one person?" Tsume asked curiously.

"That could be possible." Deckard Cain replied sagely. "When each of the Three was sealed into the Soulstones, each of them in one form or another was bound with a physical host. Mephisto seemed to be bound to the High Priest of Zakarum after being entombed in the Durance. Baal was bonded to Tal Rasha, a powerful Horadric Mage, and sealed in a tomb in the Canyon of the Magi since the sealing was not enough to contain Baal. Diablo bonded to two people, a priest in Tristram and the warrior that defeated him the first time. Each time, it seemed he gained strength from the bonding."

"**Quite true. I have always been impressed with the wisdom of some of the elders I have met in my travels. Anyway, from your story earlier about how you defeated some of the Three, it is quite possible that when you destroyed the original Soulstones at Hell's Forge their imprisoned selves could merge some with what remained of their essence in Makai. Not until they turn a realm into an Outpost of Makai can they walk a realm as their true selves, as they are in Makai."**

Tsunade looked at the demon and seemed to come to a conclusion. "So what you two are saying is that they most likely have some of their old strength back as well as the strength of those they were bonded to?"

Randall Flagg nodded, giving the Slug Princess a knowing smile. **"You got it. When they kicked me out of Makai, it was after they defeated the others one by one. The Three prefer to fight in tandem and overwhelm their opponents. From what those from Sanctuary told of their battles with the Three, they managed to only beat them after they wore down their hordes and isolated them."**

"That means time would be critical. They've probably learned from their last defeat and will ensure the same mistakes won't happen again. Therefore, it would be imperative to destroy Mephisto before he could get help from his brothers." Shikamaru surmised. "Troublesome does not begin to describe that task."

"**My dear boy, it is more troublesome than your mind knows. You see, the Three may or may not already know how to shatter the barrier to Makai here. It depends on how much they managed to glean from whoever they bonded to. I know of the way and you might be aware of it since a certain group which also knows of it, although they mistakenly think of it as a way to create some super weapon." **Randall informed the group with a smile. **"It is so unfortunate that my fellow wardens and a few others are being used that way."**

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Gaara hung their heads at the realization of his words. Kakashi, Yamato, Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura grew worried looks and turned their attention to one lone blonde who seemed slightly oblivious to the news until almost everyone looked at him. It was at that moment that the cold shock of the situation rang true.

"Y-you mean that group was the Akatsuki and they need the bijuu to break the barrier?" Naruto asked nervously.

"**Correct, but they aren't the only things they need. Imagine us nine wardens- or bijuu as you know them- as pieces of the lock. A key is still needed for the lock. Can you guess what the key is? Someone here has the key covered up under a nice headband." **The demon stated in a near gleeful manner while turning his gaze to a silver-haired cyclopean ninja.

"Kakashi's Sharingan?? That is the key?" Sakura inquired quickly realizing the hint before Randall could move his head.

"**Not just his Sharingan, but three sets of Sharingan eyes that have matured. Didn't you ever wonder why I came to Konoha in the first place??" **He replied with a broad smile showing off his enlarged canines as if he was ready for a bloody meal. "**Remember that I was looking for a way back to Makai. When I made my way to this realm, I found most of my brethren already here. Your kind was already fighting them in one way or another. Eventually I learned of the way to breach the barrier and I tried to approach one with the Sharingan to **_**convince**_** the person to help me out. It was just my bad luck that Madara prodded me into that ill-fated rampage on your village in return for allowing me to go home."**

"Madara?? As in Uchiha Madara??" Jiraiya gasped. "He should be dead by now. He was the same age as the First!"

"**The one and the same, even though if he is as old as you say he did seem quite spry for his age. He didn't look a day older than forty to me."**

"That's… not good. If that man is still around and has maintained the grudge against Konoha, then we might not be safe even after we get rid of Mephisto and his brothers." Tsunade stated plainly while trying to think up some way out of this mess.

"Where are all of the new Soulstones now?" Alexia asked, already thinking of a battle plan.

"Akiri stated that one of the Akatsuki nabbed the red one while the other fell somewhere in Rice Country near one of the Oto compounds." The Godaime replied while working on a plan of her own.

"With what I gained from my spies, the only places their base could be is either in Amegakure or in Kusagakure under the noses or in direct supervision of their Kages." The Toad Sannin informed the group.

"We are closest to Konoha than we are to Oto, Ame, or Kusa. If we want to make any sort of dent, we must strike soon against Mephisto." Yamato suggested.

"What about Sasuke-kun??" Sakura asked with Naruto nodding along with her. "He will be a target of the Three. Shouldn't we try to locate and warn him? Maybe convince him to join forces?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I wouldn't advise it. We have no real clue where he is after he defeated Orochimaru. Best to attack a known target than go on a wild goose chase looking for another one."

Randall Flagg started to look annoyed at the conversation being conducted around him. It is one thing to glean information from him, but quite another to treat him as an afterthought during a war room meeting. **"Alright, that is enough. Any more information you may need you can ask Naruto and I'll supply him with what I know. It has been many years since I last saw them so those who fought them more recently would have the better knowledge. Now if you don't mind, I plan on going back to sleep."**

With those final words a white light flashed in every direction, knocking those in the Spirit Lodge unconscious.

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Sunshine Motel

At most times during the vacation season, the hotel and resort a few kilometers inside the Fire County side of the border with Rice Country would be packed with tourists wanting to dip in the nearby hot springs. That was until a group of four ninjas came to rest and heal their wounds. The manager normally never had a problem with catering to the occasional team of shinobi and would have them in a special suite away from the other guests. For some reason that he couldn't remember, the mere presence of this group managed to clear the building in which they rested. The four took residence in the penthouse suite and only the spectacled redhead of the group was seen since.

In the suite itself, the group was awake with the raven haired leader lying on a bedroll with bandages covering a smattering of wounds on his face. Near the window sitting on a ledge, a broad and well-built man with messy sandy brown hair sat watching a pair of birds that were perched on his bare shoulder chirping in his ear.

In the corner to the right of the man was another male of a slighter build with shoulder length silver-blue hair. He was sipping on a water bottle, careful to keep his razor sharp, shark-like teeth from ripping the spout apart.

The apparent swordsman observed a young woman in the middle of the room with red hair and spectacled red eyes. All she wore was a while lab coat, a pair of black low-cut shorts, and stockings that came up to mid-thigh. She had her arms crossed as the raven haired man lying down started to rise to a sitting position.

He wearily peered at the collected group before organizing his thoughts. _'Time to get back on track. I need to keep my goal clear. Itachi will die by MY hand,' _Uchiha Sasuke thought before addressing the team.

"Did any of you get a lead on Itachi?" he drawled out in a tired voice.

"You got to be kidding me? You look like you went ten rounds with a dinosaur and you're still trying to be a tough guy?" The woman responded irritatingly.

"Knock it off, Karin." The shark-toothed man stated. "This is the reason behind our team. Deal with it." Turning back to Sasuke, he briefed him on his information. "There is plenty of information out there on this 'Akatsuki' that Itachi is a part of but nothing on just him."

Sasuke would have looked disappointed if he didn't mask his emotions to near perfection. Instead all he gave was a curt reply. "Very well, Suigetsu." Before Sasuke could turn to the next person on the team, he was interrupted.

"That isn't all I found." Suigetsu stated proudly. "Word has it that they are after certain people with _special_ kinds of chakra."

A memory popped into Sasuke's mind. The fights he had with Naruto came to mind as he recalled the blonde's red chakra. "Special chakra…" he stated absentmindedly.

Not wanting to be left out, the burly man at the window interjected. "These 'Akatsuki' appear to have several bases that they operate out of, from what the animals have told me so far." He glanced over to the pair of birds that were chirping softly into his ear. "From these places, they have felt high levels of… unpleasant chakra radiating outwards. However, just recently one of the bases had something unusual happen inside that scared all the animals out of the area. It was near Amegakure."

"Scare them out?" Karin asked. "What would scare the animals away that I haven't sensed?"

The water-chugging shinobi just chuckled contemptuously. "Haha. You're telling me that some animal could do something that Karin couldn't?? Not like that isn't unexpected… this is Karin we are talking about."

Karin turned her glare to Suigetsu. "You stupid prick! Say something that idiotic again!" She said, threatening to plant her foot through his face.

"**Enough** you two." Sasuke commanded, getting the two to quiet down and separate slightly. "Juugo, continue."

He calmly nodded to the Uchiha in obedience. "The animals spoke of something supernatural, something tainted and purely evil. They also stated that this is not the only source for these disturbances. They have noted one coming from Orochimaru's old base as well as one from Konoha. Due to this, most animals are migrating to Tea, Lightning, or Earth Countries. This is highly unusual."

Karin appeared lost in thought while the rest soaked in this information. She moved over behind Juugo and peered out the window. "That is quite interesting. Any idea as to what those three disturbances could be. Something that Orochimaru could have had as well as Konoha and Ame??"

"Not a clue, but we might want to find out. Best place to start looking is…" Before Sasuke could complete his sentence, his attention was diverted to the nervous chirping of the two birds on Juugo's shoulder before they bolted out the window and flew off.

Karin noted this too and glanced around. In the sky were trails of birds flying away from two directions. One flock was coming from the west while the other coming from the north. In a split second, she started to meditate and focus her senses out in those directions. Just as soon as she opened her senses, she shivered and dropped to a knee, catching everyone's attention.

"What did you find?" Sasuke asked coldly.

Her breath was ragged as she replied. "I spotted two massive chakra sources coming from the west. They seemed to be masked as if they're concealed in the vegetation. They are heading our way, but will pass us just to the south if they don't change direction."

"So someone made it out of Amegakure and is heading this way, eh?" Suigetsu teasingly offered. "It might be Itachi and his partner Kisame. This might be our chance."

"More likely they are associates. They could be heading for a rendezvous; we should follow them. Get your gear ready." Sasuke ordered. Both Juugo and Suigetsu nodded and walked out of the room to gather their things. Karin was still on one knee and a bit shaky.

"What is it? You aren't usually this scared from what you sense."

Karin turned to where her leader, the man she adored, was getting out of his bed. Just looking at him made her calm her resolve. "There was another pair of chakra signatures. They were coming from Orochimaru's command post. One of them I could tell was Kabuto, but the other…" She spoke shivering at the memory of the feeling she got.

"The other?" He asked monotonously.

"The other was immensely powerful, more than Orochimaru ever was. It wasn't even chakra but something tainted." She spat out on the floor. "I could taste it and it left me nauseous."

"Where was it headed?" Sasuke prodded.

"It seemed like they where headed to Amegakure."

Sasuke let out a grunt and motioned for Karin to leave, which she promptly did. As he took off the bandages on his head, he stood and strolled over to the window to gaze at the world outside while pondering his next move.

'_It appears that one group is fleeing and the other is heading to join what is worthy of being fled from.' _Sasuke thought as he faced to the direction of Amegakure. He traced his vision from there to just south of the resort. Performing a quick mental calculation, he turned to the east in an approximate direction of where they could be headed. A slight smile crossed his face as he knew what exactly laid in that direction. _'The old Uchiha temple… I guess Suigetsu will have his fight with Kisame soon enough.'_

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Konoha

With the once bustling populous of Konoha either transformed, deceased, or evacuated, the village took on a desolate look. Trash was blowing through the streets, the bodies of the deceased left lying in place to rot, and only the meandering forms of the undead or the zealots worshiping them remained.

Near the Hokage Tower, activity was more abundant than in the corrupted village. Mephisto spoke in tongues while standing over a bubbling cauldron of liquefied flesh and various toxins, his Council bowing repeatedly and pushing forth a golden haze.

With a smirk, Mephisto nodded satisfactorily as the preparations were complete and faced towards a makeshift ring made out of body parts that stood upon a platform and steps constructed of bones.

"**The time is at hand.**

**Let the Light tremble before the Darkness.**

**May the Righteous fall before the Wicked.**

**Let the standards of Makai be raised.**

**Bring forth the servant that I choose."**

As the final words were uttered, a sickly red energy burst from the cauldron and wormed its way to the ring. The screeching cries of the damned echoed outwards as the ring appeared to be filled with a bloody and bubbling fluid. Five talons pierced through the squalid liquid and stretched it in order to widen the opening. The ground shook as a taloned foot struck the ground, followed by a pair of hands grasping the ring. Moments later, a giant succubus pulled its way completely through the portal before the bubbling waters collapsed upon itself.

Mephisto floated his way over to the arrival, inspecting her briefly to ensure her full capacity. She stood over seven feet in height and appeared to be mostly human. Her stature and build was similar to that of a female gladiator, complete with a metal breast plate that accentuated her massive assets. Her modesty was only covered by a metal skirt surrounding a pair of mesh shorts. Her long flaming red hair stood straight up as if it was a flame and protruding from her back were five long fingerlike appendages tipped with onyx talons. What was visible of her flesh possessed a tinge of grey and her musculature was both supple and firm as if she were both a seductress and a fighter.

"**Welcome to this realm of the living, my dear Lilith. I trust you are ready for blood?" **The Lord of Hatred cackled.

An echoing female voice emanated from her as she responded, licking her lips as if savoring the meal to come. **"It has been a long time since I was able to feast on the flesh of a mortal or hear the lustful moans of a man before I ripped his spine out."**

"**Excellent. I have a small army I want you to lead. A group of mortals have evaded me and I'd rather have them dead than alive. Take care of it."**

Lilith bowed and smiled wickedly. **"As you command, Lord Mephisto."**

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(A/N): Please read and review. I know that this chapter is not as exciting as it should be, but it will be shortly. The action will be picking up next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ownership of anything other than the few characters I have created are either the work of Blizzard Entertainment or Masashi Kishimoto.**

**I apologize for the delay but I was away on a working vacation for a few weeks. I hope this chapter meets with your approval.**

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Uchiha Temple

At one time, the man now seated in the marble chair at the back of the meeting room in the Uchiha Temple would come here for a more benevolent reason. It was here that his training with the Mangekyo Sharingan in the company of Madara took place. More importantly, it was here where he grieved for the loss of his parents; he never wanted to eliminate them. The original plan was to keep his direct family alive and get them out of harm's way.

Between Madara, Pein, and the Konoha elders, neither side would allow for his kaasan or tousan to be spared. It was only through sheer luck that Sasuke was not around at the time of the massacre. When Itachi was first indoctrinated into the Akatsuki, it seemed rather peculiar that Madara, hiding in the visage of an idiotic alter-ego, wasn't upset over Sasuke being saved. Itachi's reasoning was rather altruistic: he hoped that the little bit of reverse psychology and the other clans in the village would bring young Sasuke over to what the Will of Fire meant. That was what the true purpose of being an Uchiha _should _have been, not what was being pounded into the heads of most of the youth. In so doing, he had sacrificed who he wanted to be for the sake of his otouto.

With Madara's lack of punishment or concern regarding the lone survivor, he knew plans had to change. Instead of merely being a lone wolf waiting for the next challenge, he now possessed a singular task: the assurance of the defeat of Madara. Careful planning, training, and intelligence led him to this moment in time. Depending on the outcome of two events, either himself, Sasuke, or another would be the one to end the cycle of power and greed that started with the aged Uchiha.

In those few brief moments of introspection, a second person graced the room with his presence. In general, outsiders were not allowed in the temple since the height of the Uchiha's power. On the other hand, being the partner and confidant of Uchiha Itachi does have its benefits.

"How much longer do we have to wait here? You know we can't linger here too long before someone gets suspicious of our intentions." Hoshigaki Kisame stated blandly. The most notorious and vicious of the Seven Shinobi Swordsman of Kirigakure was never one for patience, even when the situation called for it. Then again, when one wields the Samehada, one wouldn't worry about patience either.

"Only for as long as we need to. It won't be long until the wayward raven comes home to roost." Itachi remarked with a bit of his stoic nonchalance that he used to mask his emotions.

The swordsman glanced to the side as if trying to locate a lost soul. "What about the beast of the forest? Will he come over to our side?"

For the first time in their conversation, the former ANBU opened his eyes and looked at Kisame. "He doesn't even need to come to our side. All he needs to do is to listen and, if necessary, receive a gift."

Kisame chuckled at the passing thought that ran through his mind. The notion of the great Itachi in a red Santa costume complete with fake beard and hat was simply too ridiculous to be ignored. "I never thought I would see the day that you would be so kind, especially to one we tried to capture."

"Circumstances change as much as the tide. You know that as well as I, considering how you went from being the Mizukage's right hand to decorating his most wanted list."

The shark-faced man grinned, displaying his sharpened teeth in all their glory. "It will be fun when I can pay the half-wit back. It has been a while since my blade has tasted glorious blood. Not a good thing to let Samehada go hungry for too long."

Kisame stood there for a minute before realizing his partner would no longer indulge in conversation. He turned on his heel and walked back outside to practice his kenjutsu stances. It would not do for his skills to become dulled due to neglect even though he truly longed for a battle. He could only hope said battle would come sooner rather than later.

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Wave Country

The next day marked the beginning of the teamwork training. The initial framework of the plan was simple. Deploying a force en masse was dismissed easily since it seemed that the Sanctuary Five were able to defeat the arrayed armies of undead, demons, and beasts well enough. Regrettably, the combined Konoha-Suna strike force did not have the prerequisite time to conduct a deliberate march whittling the opposing force piece by piece that they did.

After careful consideration, the battle plan was generated around the portal skill the Sanctuary Five possessed. Five small strike groups would secure strategic entry points into the village and open up the portals. From there, the larger force would pour through and strike in waves, spreading out like flames along the front of a forest fire.

For each of the small groups, a Konoha or Suna squad would be joined by one of the members of the Sanctuary Five. It was the task of these groups to train together and understand each other's skills for the next week. The original three week timetable would not be acceptable if the other two brothers arrived in Konoha or if Mephisto escaped prior to the army's arrival.

Gaara insisted on leading the expeditionary force. Tsunade snickered slightly as she recalled how the Kazekage stated that demand. He said that he was honor bound to both Konoha and specifically Uzumaki for all that had been done for Suna and himself. No one ever called Naruto by his surname in a respectful manner. Instead, it was merely in derision when dealing with the ingrates on the council. Gaara used his friend's name in the highest regard that Kages would only use in terms of their countries' greatest heroes and honored lords.

'_If only you could have had that respect earlier Naruto, then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.' _She contemplated as she observed the mass of warriors and shinobi gathering to be separated into their combat teams. _'We can only hope that this is the beginning of our fight back and not one last stand.'_

In a matter of minutes, the remaining Suna and Konoha shinobi and the Sanctuary Five were assembled in front of Gaara, Tsunade, Jiraiya and Deckard Cain at one of the training grounds that were marked off. With a nod from her former teammate, the female Hokage cleared her throat loudly. "After careful deliberation, we have come up with a battle plan for the liberation of Konoha and the defeat of Mephisto. Time is of the essence, so we cannot work a systematic march district by district. This operation will consist of five teams that will penetrate the walls in key points. From there, we will use the portals to bring in the rest of our forces and fan out like the flames of a wildfire."

"Five teams?? That is a lot to ask of only five teams to secure entrance back into the village." Kakashi commented in his off-handed manner.

"It will be enough." Alexia stated confidently. "When we broke into Travincal, their beasts and undead didn't set up guard patrols. It was only a mob scattered throughout the city. Their only organized resistance came when we tried to break into Mephisto's lair. I doubt it will change too much."

"Yes, but his guard this time is our family, comrades, and loved ones. Surely they will be prepared for us." Neji replied.

"That is why they won't be our normal five teams. Each of one of the teams I call will be augmented by one of Alexia's group. Over then next few days, you will work to understand each other's methods and capabilities." Jiraiya explained.

"In the area of operations, I will be coordinating our initial attack." Gaara announced. "Baki, Temari, and Kankuro will join my team along with Baerach. Our team will take an area near one of the training grounds in between the east and main gates."

"Team Asuma augmented with Hatake Kakashi, your team will take the east gate and will be joined by Mia." Tsunade ordered plainly.

"_These_ are the great warriors that I will go into battle with?" Mia remarked exasperatingly as she glanced over the rest of the team. "Great Athena surely must be testing my limits if I am to be joined by _this_ lot in the crucible of blood."

Ino stared at the tall, athletic, and well-endowed blond in shock. To her, the jealousy she had for the Amazon's physical assets morphed into a fit of righteous fury. _'How dare this tramp mock us? Not only does this slut have to flaunt her rack in front of everyone, but she dares think we are not any good?!'_

Chouji was torn between her words of derision and images of what her heavenly curves would form into outside of her armor. The result was a face that was a collective impression of drooling lust and twitching annoyance. Fortuitously for him and his female teammate, Shikamaru already had the two restrained with hands covering their open mouths.

"If things couldn't get even more troublesome." He idly stated. "It would have been nice to start off on a better foot than this." Peeking at their Jounin leader, his lackadaisical frustration only was compounded as Kakashi's lone exposed eye was as wide as the moon. Obviously the avid pornography reader's mind had short-circuited by the woman's appearance. The former ANBU may have seen the person before but the buxom blond's form fitting chest plate and armored leggings left nothing to the imagination. As the strategist imagined, getting Kakashi to focus on the task at hand might become more troublesome than weaning Naruto from ramen.

Sighing and shaking his head, he released his restraint on his long-term compatriots and immediately wiped his hands on his trousers before shoving them into his pockets. "I know we have already been formally introduced so I will leave out that bit of procedural commonality. We have had a working relationship for a couple of years, even though our masked companion is newly added as a permanent member."

"A point sometime today would be much appreciated." Mai responded, impatiently tapping her foot.

Composing himself, the silver-haired Jounin came to Shikamaru's aid. "Simply put, we all know what our roles on this team and how our abilities fit. We have plenty of combat experience so I wouldn't be the one doubting our skills. However, we have no clue where you fit in other than knowing the enemy and having a pretty face."

A scowl formed on the Amazon's face and she abruptly snatched an arm-length javelin from a quiver on her back.

"Mighty Zeus, empower my weapon to strike down my enemy." She chanted before launching the javelin at a nearby tree. While the projectile flew through the air, it crackled with electricity. Upon impact, a loud crack of thunder shook the ground as the tree splintered into pieces from the lightning strike.

Swiftly, she drew her longbow and notched an arrow from her other quiver. The bow itself was made of bronze and etched with many elaborate markings. On the grip, four small stone squares were set pressed into the bronze. Each stone had a different symbol etched into the surface. Mai pressed her fingertips into the stones and a blue aura encompassed the arrow. Wisps of vapor swirled around the arrowhead and the temperature seemed to drop many degrees where she stood. Abruptly, she let the arrow loose and it flew true, striking another tree. From the point of contact, ice snaked across the bark up to the leaves until the entirety of the tree was encased in a block of ice.

With a victorious chuckle, she cocked her head to the side to catch the gaze of the team. One simple phrase from her seemed to fit with the looks of approval, astonishment, or envy from the assembled shinobi. "Do I fit in now?"

"I believe you now see why she was placed on your team. Any _more_ complaints??" Tsunade asked in an impatient manner, almost begging someone to comment. "Good. Team Kakashi will be assigned to take the west gate and will work with Alexia."

That comment seemed to frustrate Naruto. "Why aren't we taking the main gate?? Sakura-chan and I can take on the masses. Probably no one will be sitting at that west gate. It is hardly used anymore."

"Their hordes will probably be scattered all over the place and will not be organized except at the tower." Gaara informed his comrade-in-arms. "You are right in a sense that your team's objective will likely be under minimal protection, but that means that it will be a good spot to begin the first wave toward the tower."

Naruto nodded with a determined face about him. He knew that he wouldn't let his friends or comrades down. He would be there right at the front of that first wave and take the fight straight to Mephisto.

"_**Don't take Mephisto lightly. We might have to work together for once to take him on." **_The great demon replied.

'_Usually fox… I mean Randall; I would be refusing you left and right after how I hurt Sakura-chan using your power. I think I will have to make an exception in this case. Can you make sure I do not go higher than three tails??"_

"_**That I can try, but the seal may not allow that. You will need to gain a hold of your emotions to ensure you don't go into a primal rage."**_

Naruto thought back on the past few days. He was so distrusting of the fox earlier but with the downfall of Konoha and the revelations that came afterwards, there was not much choice but to accept any help he could get.

"As for the Main Gate that you mentioned, Naruto," Tsunade continued. "Team Gai, you will be tasked with securing that area. Selene will go along with you."

"Yosh! We will take the fight to them and show Mephisto the error of his un-youthful ways." Gai announced proudly with his fist clenched tight.

"Hai, Gai-sensei! We will show them that the flames of youth can not be denied and we are truly splendid ninja." Lee stated loudly.

Selene gawked at Anstrum in an stunned and somewhat repulsed manner. "These two can't be serious, can they??"

"I am quite certain they can be, Lady Selene." Neji commented, overhearing her question. "However unusual that Gai and Lee may be, the two of them are rather formidable taijutsu masters."

Tsunade massaged her temples in an attempt to stave off the onset of a migraine from witnessing the two spandex-clad shinobi go through their normal "youthful" spectacle. "If you could **STOP TALKING!!**" She shouted at the two, causing them to immediately snap to attention. Relaxing slightly, she continued on her brief. "The last team will be Team Kurenai. Mitarashi Akiri will fill in for Kurenai's role and you will have Anstrum accompany you. Training Area twelve is a couple kilometers from the west gate. It is marked by a waterfall going over a recently made cliff. That will be your area of operations."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. We won't let you down." Kiba stated as confidently as he could. Internally, he was concerned about both the safety of his sensei in Suna as well as thinking about the fellow Inuzuka that were lost. Luckily, his kaasan and neechan managed to come through relatively unharmed.

Shino was his usual stoic self. Everything was of a sense of logic and rationalization. Even so, he still felt the absence of his sensei compounded with the loss that came from the death of his mother. He knew that death was inevitable in the shinobi world and usually viewed it with a bit of absoluteness that seemed to run among the Aburame clan. Unfortunately, he, like the rest of his clan, was not without emotion and he could feel the heartache associated with the pain of loss.

Hinata stood tall and solid even though her heart still ached for her tousan. Kurenai helped her with her grief before departing for the safer Suna. Now she stood ready to take on the most important mission of her life and all of her most precious people were either going into harm's way, not there for support, or dead. For the first time in a while, she felt as if she was truly without the help she needed.

Akiri stood before the three teenagers and a large white dog. The situation in front of her was daunting to say the least. She heard many stories about the tracking abilities of Team Eight led by Yuuhi Kurenai; tales of them tracking missing nins to small bugs and even valuable artifacts- this team could do the job. Even reconnaissance missions were no problem with the renowned Genjutsu Mistress leading them. With her out of commission due to her pregnancy, it was Akiri's job to lead this team into battle.

This brought a new set of reservations to her mind. She wondered how capable she would really be leading this group after being under Danzo's tutelage for so long. Under the war hawk's direction, everything fell under one basic principle: all that exists is one's orders. People were expendable; assets that come and go. That mindset didn't work when one was in charge of a young team of skilled shinobi under Tsunade-sama's command. If she wanted to be as strong as the Yondaime one day, like she desired so many years ago when she first was approached by Danzo's group, then it was time to follow his example.

"Not everything goes according to plan." Akiri started out on her monologue, gaining the attention of the trio of Chunin. "Originally, I'd imagine you all believed you would be working alongside Yuuhi-san tracking and spying until you managed to make Jounin and came up for a team of your own. None of you saw this coming that night back in Konoha. I know that it must be hard for you to lose so many loved ones," a round of nodding heads and despondent gazes greeted her statement, "but we need to push on now for those who are still here. We will be one of the teams going in on the first wave to reclaim our home. I for one plan of winning this battle"

Kiba and Akamaru were roused from their thoughts and sat alert from her declaration while Hinata's jaw was set firmly in determination. Shino, like any Aburame, was absent of any outward emotional response other than a slight buzzing of his hive and the mild agitation in his voice as he spoke.

"We are normally a reconnaissance team. This leads me to suspect that your addition to our team was to bolster our combat power."

"You catch on quick for a guy wearing sunglasses." She retorted with a simpering glance. "I am an… agent under a special division of ANBU. I was originally trained under Danzo's department."

Kiba and Akamaru growled at the statement. "You mean that rickety piece of crap that is now Mephisto's new set of clothes is the guy you worked for?"

"Not exactly one of my prouder moments, kid."

"Lady, you and your sister sure know how to pick your senseis." He replied with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She narrowed her eyes at the Inuzuka. "You know I have to trust you now, right? It's not like I can blow up a few hundred of them without some backup."

"Like Shikamaru and his paper bombs??"

"I don't need any silly sealed destabilized chakra to do that. I have jutsus that can inject my elemental chakra to agitate and destabilize the molecular structure of metals. It's why I am called the Shrapnel Maiden." Akiri boasted as she plucked a senbon from a holster strapped to the outside of her left arm. With the weapon in hand, she made a half-Hare sign, causing the needle to glow a faint yellow before readying the weapon.

She launched the charged needle toward a tree about fifteen meters away and called out her jutsu. **"Kibaku no Fukiya (exploding dart)!"** At the point of impact, the senbon exploded in a fireball the size of one of Naruto's large ramen bowls. When the smoke cleared, the tree had a fist side hole punched through it with the surrounding surface charred and smoldering.

The reactions of the teenage shinobi were of varying degrees of appraisal. Even the outwardly placid Shino raised an eyebrow at the demonstration. Kiba and Akamaru shouted, growled, and barked in approval while Hinata's eyes were wide as she soaked in the strength of something that was so small. Behind them, the sound of clapping turned their attention away from the tree to a tall and heavily armored man behind them.

"Good show. It looks like I am definitely in the right place if I am to be in the company of a skilled warrior such as you." Anstrum complimented as he ended his applause.

"Well that is nice to know," Akiri stated bluntly. "Since you are the one assigned to our little group."

The gravely voice of the Horadric Sage cut through the air, calling the groups attention to him. "This will not be an easy task. Surely Mephisto is not sitting on his laurels, especially if he gained anything from the bonding with this Danzo character. He as well as his brothers has been able to call forth reinforcements even though not to the degree opening Hell's Gates would accomplish."

Jiraiya made himself known at that point. "This is why for the next few days, you will be training together to gain some semblance of teamwork before the liberation commences."

Tsunade stared over the rest of the assembled shinobi, including the two remaining clan heads. "Teamwork is not going to be limited to those five teams. The rest of you will be split into squads that will be assigned specific portals to go through. Everyone here that is able to fight will be committed to the attack, including myself. The ultimate goal is to link up back at the Hokage Tower, where it is likely that Mephisto resides.

This is the moment that we have trained for ever since we put on a hitai-ate. This is when all of our oaths and promises to our home and our comrades will be fulfilled. We will take back our home!!" At that point, the assembled shinobi held themselves proudly. "You are dismissed to your teams to begin training."

Reactions were mixed based upon the individual. For those reserved like Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru, a small nod was all that accompanied the order. For the more experienced Jounin, a chorus of "Hai, Hokage-sama" rang out. Just as predictably, the sound of the more rambunctious of Chunin contained more vocal comments. No one could mistake the shouts regarding 'Flames of Youth' emanating from Lee or the barks and bravado of Akamaru and Kiba. Most notable was the reaction from Naruto.

"Yatta!! Time for some hardcore training!!" The blond jinchuuriki stated with a fist in the air before his visage grew contemplative. An idea crossed his mind and he made it known. "Ero-Sennin, do you think the outfit my Soul Image form had would be better for this than what I got now?"

Jiraiya harrumphed and crossed his arms before responding. "Don't you think you could show me a little more respect before you ask my opinion, gaki??"

Naruto scratched his head while giving a mischievous smirk. "Not my style, and anyways, the name suits you. So, what do you think?"

He shook his head in resignation. "I guess I shouldn't bother calling you anything else besides gaki then. As for your idea, I am not sure if that outfit could be made, but we can surely try. Why don't you go on and train and I'll look into it for you?"

Naruto eyed the Toad Sage suspiciously. "You sure you are going to look into the outfit and not into any hot springs??"

"What do you take me for?? When it comes to my student, I always give it my best effort!!"

"That is if you best effort is leaving me with a scroll while you go to the local brhrumph…." Naruto tried to counter but his mouth was quickly covered by Jiraiya before using Shunshin to move the blonde and himself away to avoid the glare of Tsunade, or more importantly, her fists.

Tsume walked over to the Hokage's side with her longtime companion, Kumomaru, and gave a toothy grin. "Those two will never learn, will they?"

"Probably not." She replied with more than a hint of her waning anger in her voice. "The idiots can't help themselves after all."

"Sometimes acting like a fool is an asset in of itself, Tsunade-sama." The Aburame clan head stated as he unemotionally observed the rest of the shinobi depart with their teams to practice what skills they possessed.

"Then that boy has that asset in spades." She stated mirthfully as she turned to gaze at them directly. "Are you both ready for this?"

"I am definitely ready. My companion and I are eager for this battle. We will get our den back." Tsume replied with a righteous smirk and a shaking fist.

"My kikaichu and I are more than capable for the task at hand." Shibi acknowledged insipidly.

"Good. As soon as our last member for our team comes back from wherever he dragged the gaki to, we will figure out how to best utilize our skills. Until then, I believe it is time for a drink." The blonde Hokage mentioned as she started back towards the inn with the two clan heads turning to follow.

Unnoticed to the two, a pair of coal black eyes observed the entire proceeding from a distance using a small touch of chakra to amplify his sight and hearing. Seeing his mark was no longer in the area, he slunk off to follow where the Sannin took him.

--

Lilith never liked traveling during the daytime even if it had been two days since she left. She always did her best work under the cover of night, either by occupying a discriminating man's bed, bringing disease to a petulant child, or whipping out pesky little villages full of the faithful through one of her wicked storms. She may have been a strong demon but she was not one to refuse commands of one of Lord Mephisto. Those orders were rather clear.

"_**I have a small army I want you to lead. A group of mortals have evaded me and I'd rather have them dead than alive. Take care of it."**_

It was not a good idea to go against Lord Mephisto or his brothers. Those who did eventually met their demise either from the fist or their corruptive influence. Fortunately, the orders did not state that the troops had to survive. Not that one would think that a force of forty-five vampire mages was neither much of an army nor the flock of will-o'-the-wisps that accompanied them. For her, they did not matter one bit and she sent them off ahead. Let them have their fun. If the enemy was worth their salt, they would be still alive for her to torment come nightfall.

--

Naruto smirked while catching his breath. After Captain Yamato had everyone introduce themselves and give a small demonstration of their skills yesterday, he decided it was best to have everyone spar against each other. Sai and Sakura were currently recovering from their mock battle which turned slightly violent after a simple comment on her apparent lack of beauty sent the protégé of Tsunade in frenzy, forcing her to practice her medical jutsu on the numerous contusions littering the pale boy's face.

For the duel between Alexia and Naruto, things started off badly for the Genin. Her claws and kicks kept her out of his range and whenever it seemed he was at a spot to launch kunais and shuriken, one of her lightning sentry traps would activate and blast lightning bolts toward his position.

"It seems you are quite a trap maker and I can't get a good hit on you one-on-one." The blonde stated as he caught his breath.

"You seem pretty good at running away. Not going to come and take a beating like a man. Where is all that bravado now??" Alexia taunted.

A growl emanated from the blond's lips. "You asked for it. **Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.**"

Alexia stood slightly wide-eyed at the mass of clones that surrounded her. By her best estimate, there were between fifty and one hundred of them. On her best, she could only produce one, even if it was one Shadow Master.

Without a moment's hesitation, the clones bellowed a war cry and charged into the fray. A red glow surrounded Alexia's claws as she summoned her mana to begin the fire claws ritual. In a fury, she started swiping one clone after another, dispelling them in a puff of smoke. With each slash and stab from her lethal dance, the blades grew a deeper red in color and eventually white as they grew hotter. From over her shoulder, a Naruto came at her with a ball of chakra in his hand while running at a nearly inhuman speed. She leapt into the air, somersaulted, and corkscrewed so that her arms were extended in front of her before darting toward the blond while calling out her attack.

"**Dragon Claw!"** As both claws made contact, the explosive power of the finishing move as well as the energy from the fire claws ritual made the clone explode in a fiery conflagration. When she dove through the flames and smoke, she tumbled in a tuck-and-roll fashion, curling into a ball until she came out the other end standing proudly. Suddenly, a rumbling came from underneath her and Naruto made his appearance.

"**Rasengan!"** Leaping from the ground beneath Alexia, he drove the spiraling ball of chakra into what was not much more than a super-powered uppercut that caused the assassin to disappear in a flash of light.

Naruto finally settled on his feet, only to be greeted by applause from Alexia leaning against a tree.

"Well done, Naruto. That Shadow Warrior could take about a third of what I can and has all of my skills and abilities. It can be a rather good training partner especially with that finishing attack of yours. Is that your best attack?" She asked curiously. From what she saw already, he was quite limited in his repertoire and needed more skills.

He shyly scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but I also can summon toads of various sizes that can help with attacks. I am also looking to add wind chakra to my rasengan next in my training session."

"Wind attacks, eh? Maybe my friend Baerach can help you out there when we get a chance. He has a couple interesting nature spells that allow him to launch tornados and hurricane force winds at his enemies."

"Really??" Naruto inquired excitedly. He was never one to turn down learning a new jutsu. "I would like that a lot. You are pretty handy with those claws."

"These are the weapon of choice for our clan of mage hunters." She replied as she brandished them for him to see closely. "I can charge them with elemental energy or use them to launch finishing attacks. You haven't seen my best finishing attack, but if that guy from behind the tree over there doesn't come out I'll use it on him." She warned as she pointed to a pine tree thirty meters to their right.

Naruto tensed as well as the rest of the team. Sai and Sakura immediately sprung to their feet in a ready position while Yamato dropped down from an overlying branch of another tree to stand next to Naruto. All eyes were focused on a man in a black cloak with red clouds as he emerged from the shadow of the pine. The man reached up and removed his straw hat to reveal his face.

"Good to see you again, Uzumaki Naruto." The apathetic face of the one man responsible for the slaughter of an entire clan, save one, stated coldly.

"Itachi." Naruto spat out as if the word was poison to him. "Are you here to capture me like last time?!"

Itachi held his hands out wide at shoulder length. "I am not here on Akatsuki business. On the contrary, I came here to talk."

"And you expect me to believe that!?"

"Believe what you will, but to talk is all I want for now, especially since it is about Sasuke and his oldest living relative: Uchiha Madara."


	11. Chapter 11

**The only things that I own are the characters I created. Anything else lies in the hands of either Blizzard Entertainment or Masashi Kishimoto. If anyone wishes to use any of my characters, please ask before using. Now on with the show.**

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The group of five stood at the ready prepared for any of a number of worst-case scenarios that Team Kakashi could have thought of. Itachi Uchiha, the genocidal ex-ANBU traitor was in front of them right in the middle of a crisis. It might be possible that they could take him if he was alone, but even though he appeared to be on his own did not mean it was truth. Alexia was the most aware of the five since she had no clue who this person was, other than his spoken name.

'_So this is one of the men that the Three will be after. He does not seem that impressive, but the rest of the team is leery of this man. I best not lay my guard down for a single moment.' _She thought as she kept an analytical eye of her would-be opponent.

Sakura had her fists clenched and ready to pound the elder of the Uchiha brothers to a bloody pulp. Sai had brush to scroll ready to launch swarms of beasts at the target. However, none of their reactions compared to the one from Naruto. He generated two pairs of Kage Bunshins and had them prepare Rasengan attacks while the original stared down Itachi looking for any reason to bring him down.

Yamato noticing that the situation could get out of hand quickly raised his hand in a halting gesture. "Stand down. We will listen to what you have to say."

Both Sakura and Sai gave their captain a quizzical look, or as much of one as the unemotional artist could, before the two relaxed in their stances. On the other hand, the Konohan jinchuuriki took out a kunai and prepared to charge. "Why should we Yamato-taicho? He can talk all he wants after we bash his skull in."

The Mokuton wielder just gave a penetrative look toward the blonde-haired Genin as if he was trying to push the knowledge into his brain. "Attacking while the opponent is unarmed is not the best idea, especially if the opponent is not here."

Naruto relaxed as he took on a confounded image. "I don't get it…" He stated as he screwed his eyes upwards as if pondering something. A few random images came to mind before he settled on the last confrontation he had with the Uchiha pariah. He had just finished off the nuke-nin with an Odema Rasengan and was looking at the body that was a different man than his foe.

Itachi watched passively as the sparks of cognizance and reasoning formed in Naruto's brain. "It appears that you have figured it out, Naruto-san. As you have probably realized by now, I have just given this pour soul part of my power in order to relay an important matter to you."

"Why him?" Sakura interjected seeing as how she felt left out of a conversation with the man who was at the center of the reason Sasuke left Konoha, let alone all the trouble that is going on. "If it is so important, shouldn't you relay this information to Tsunade-shishou?"

"It is vital that Naruto-san is prepared for my otouto's inevitable attack on Konoha." He responded while not taking his eyes off the lone Genin of the group.

The two original members of Team Seven stood in stunned silence. They knew that their wayward teammate had issues and was not going to come back quietly to Konoha. The two imagined that they would have to knock out the Snake Sannin's apprentice before they could remove Orochimaru's brainwashing. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect that the former Rookie of the Year would actually attack the village of his birth.

"Why would that happen and what does this have to do with Madera?" Yamato inquired in an attempt to give both his young subordinates the necessary recovery time while gleaning what information he could from the unique Bunshin.

"My otouto is on his way to confront me for the last time. In the aftermath, Madera will take him and fill his head with his version of the truth in order to mold him in his image. Once he had Sasuke do his bidding, including the destruction of Konoha, Madera would take his eyes and use them to achieve true immortality with the power of all nine bijuu." The former ANBU captain turned Konoha nuke-nin reported monotonously.

Alexia smirked inwardly while keeping her face as neutral as possible. This man clearly lacked vital information on current events. That put her and her new teammates at a tactical advantage. She gave a suggestive glance at Yamato who gave her a quick nod as if he understood her idea intuitively.

"It would be a shock to you then to know that Konoha was already attacked and has fallen." Yamato stated as he narrowed his gave upon the Uchiha.

The raven-haired man gave a small smirk that Naruto swore was eerily reminiscent of his former teammate. "I may have overheard something about a Mephisto doing just that. I would have thought it would have been Madera, Sasuke, or maybe Danzo that performed that feat. Oddly enough, I have never heard of this Mephisto before today. Anything you can share about that?"

Naruto just smirked back at the man. "All I will say is that you are now a target like me. Surrender and I'll tell you all about it."

The Akatsuki member gave him a look as if saying 'are you kidding me' before cocking his head in a curious manner. "Hunting for me? So this man wants the Sharingan?"

"Without a doubt, but like my teammate says, if you would so kindly surrender we can talk more about this." Sakura retorted with her hands clenched. Knowing that her teammate and former sensei were targets of such an evil being filled her heart with righteous fury, but the nuke-nin in front of her need not know that yet. She swore in her mind that if she managed to end up fighting one of them, she would throw everything she had at the demon. She would protect them this time instead of them protecting her.

"Is that a fact? I am not so sure that would be in my best interests. This Mephisto intrigues me. For such a lofty goal, you would think someone would have seen him prior to now." Itachi pondered aloud while considering his options. Options that ran out as soon as a whooping screech erupted from the forested area to their south.

Naruto tightened his grip on the kunai he still held as he ordered his clones off with a motion of his head. With a silent bound, the four replicas bounded off into the trees toward the sound. Within a few moments, flashes of memories cycled back to the Genin's brain. Arcs of lightning flashed off the ghostly winged creatures as the clones' kunais flew through them. A pair of the Kage Bunshins was dispelled as they were caught unprepared for the elemental defense.

"We got company and it's…" he spoke as he grimaced at the memories he absorbed. A ghastly pale came over his face as he told them what they were fighting. "Ghosts!"

"Are you sure they are not Bunshins or Genjutsu, Naruto-kun? You could be mistaken." Sai stated blandly. "I read in a book once how some Genjutsu users ply on the fears of a target when using their craft."

Naruto flinched again as the last two clones were defeated by the cold piercing mandibles of the winged foes. "Quite sure. I even felt some of the chakra being taken by those things!" He exclaimed as he recalled how the chakra was pulled through those mandibles as the bit into the one Bunshin's shoulder.

Alexia immediately pulled three odd shaped wire triangles on the ground in front of the group. Each one held a different colored crystal in the center. Turning back to the group, she focused on the blonde Genin. "How far off are they?"

"About fifty meters into the tree line." He responded while summoning another batch of Kage Bunshins. "What are those things?"

"They sound like Will-o-wisps. Nasty things mutated from the damned souls of beasts. The Three use them to torment the living. Do not attack until the traps do." Alexia said as a flock of six translucent winged beasts flew into the clearing. The beasts themselves had a head shaped from two massive horns held in the form of a cross with a long protruding mandible from the center of the cross. They were about three meters in length with a broad wingspan. The wings themselves were as if someone used a ribcage of an animal and turned it into a wing.

Within a couple of seconds, the three wire traps activated and launched streams of lightning and shards of ice toward the attackers. Naruto and the group watched in fear as the ice shards and lightning bolts flew through the Will-o-wisps. At each strike point, small arcs of lightning flew out in a random pattern.

"They aren't working!" Sakura exclaimed as she prepared a pair of kunai with explosive tags. It was doubtful that the kunai would help but she preferred to keep her distance from the things

"Just give it a moment." The assassin retorted as the flame-throwing trap fell into range and struck the ghostly monsters with a large plume of fire. Shrieks of pain echoed through the clearing as the flames struck their targets while the arcs of lighting flowed from each strike the beasts took.

Being the well-trained shinobi that he was, Itachi subconsciously flew through hand seals before launching a familiar Katon Jutsu by cupping his fingers to his lips. The beast shrieked again as the large fireball the Uchiha summoned blasted into them. Two of the beasts fell into piles of fossilized bones that eerily were similar to bones left over from an evening turkey feast. Sakura let her kunai fly noticing the defeated monsters and timed the impact perfectly as the tags exploded just as the tip of the kunai grazed the outer substance of the closest Will-o-wisp. The smoke from the explosion cleared to display another of the beasts crumbled into a heap of bones. A few more tags and Katon jutsus later, the remaining attackers fell annihilated from the fiery barrage.

"YATTA! That shows those temes whose boss around here! Nice shots, Sakura-chan!" Naruto proclaimed in celebration as he turned to her to give her further praise. Before any further words escaped his lips, a loud growling moan came from the tree line. Snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves rang through the clearing as a mass of vampire mages emerged from the forest.

"Kuso!" Swore the blonde as he launched his own tag attached kunai toward the middle of the oncoming undead minions. The kunai flew true and struck one of the mages with the satisfying sound of metal sinking into decaying flesh. Only the sound from the explosion that spilt the mass into two groups was any more gratifying. The vampire at the center of the attack flew back into a nearby tree, sliding down the front of it with the sound of hemorrhaging flesh drug across its surface.

The rest of the team members were just as quick to attack. Sai quickly conjured a pack of wolves from his masterful **Sumi: Choju Giga (Ink Art: Super Beast Imitation Picture)** and had them attack one group of the undead. Yamato was not that far behind as he sent two Mokuton Bunshins in support of the wolves while launching roots from the trees behind the undead. His first strike from the roots skewered a pair of vampires, which only steeled his efforts against the horde.

Sakura and Alexis dove in and fought the beasts directly while under the cover of Naruto Kage Bunshin raining kunais down on the undead. The sounds of snapping bones and severed limbs rang out as the two women did their work while they dodged the fireballs and walls of flame that their opponents cast. This lasted until one of the vampire's fireballs exploded upon crashing into the ground. Sakura was not as quick to spring out of the blast radius and tumbled away painfully across the unforgiving ground. Alexia broke contact with the enemy and made her way to her, pulling a bottle with a red liquid inside.

Seeing the destructive nature of the vampires' spells and his longtime teammate injured, Naruto made to enter the fray only for the Uchiha possessed human puppet to grab him. The Akatsuki member whirled the blonde around managing to catch the Genin's eyes with his own.

"What are you doing?!?" Naruto inquired vehemently at Itachi. "I need to go help my team!"

"There is no time." The cloaked man said quickly as he focused his remaining energy. "This battle will weaken me before too long and you will need your gift when Sasuke comes for you." Suddenly, a blast of dark energy emerged from Itachi's eyes and mouth as it poured from him into the shinobi in front of him. Naruto uttered a muffled scream as the energy was forced into him through his own eyes and mouth. "Gomen, Naruto-san, but I will need you to stop Sasuke if I can not."

As he set the blonde gently to the ground, a wave of sand came crashing through the clearing. The attacking shinobi leapt away from the sand cocooned the undead and buried them under its surface

"**Sabaku Sousou (Desert Funeral)!" **A haunting voice echoed out as the sand compacted crushing the undead. Accompanying the jutsu was the sound of two people landing nearby. Itachi made to turn toward the arriving shinobi but found himself unable to move.

"**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique) complete."** Shikamaru uttered as he finished his jutsu effectively binding the rogue Uchiha. He turned his head to allow Itachi to catch a quick glance at the Hokage, Kazekage, and the Toad Sannin standing side by side.

Tsunade smirked at the rogue nin and placed a hand on her hip in a manner of flaunting her superiority over the criminal. "Isn't this a surprise? I didn't expect to see you so soon. Now give me one reason why I shouldn't execute you right now!"

Itachi's response was so uncharacteristic and arrogant that the surrounding shinobi either gaped in disbelief or stood stunned at the behavior. All of that was from a simple laugh that the Uchiha gave after hearing the Hokage's words. After just a few seconds, Tsunade grew so frustrated at the lack of respect from the captured nin that she was about to order his execution to Shikamaru. Much to her dismay, Itachi's body was enveloped in a chakra-induced cloud before she could even turn to give the command.

Jiraiya quickly ran through some hand signs. "You aren't going to escape that easily!" Just as he was going to place his palm on the ground to complete the **Yomi Numa (Swamp of the Underworld) Jutsu**, a hand grasped his wrist firmly, halting the completion of the jutsu. He looked over to see Kakashi restraining him.

"Wait for a minute, Jiraiya-sama. Itachi was never here, was he?" He asked glancing over to the now approaching Yamato.

"No he wasn't, Kakashi-sempai. It was just like you reported from the last confrontation with him." The current leader of Team Kakashi stated. He turned his head back over to the direction of the dispersing veil of chakra. The body lying on the ground was a nondescript man in his mid thirties with a receding hairline and a birthmark on his neck. "It was a human puppet controlled remotely. We have to assume now that the Akatsuki know of our plans and current states."

Tsunade frowned at the development while her senior shinobi discussed matters. One of her ninjas was unconscious from the actions of a known enemy who managed to infiltrate their camp. Yes, the site did not have quite the security that Konoha once had, but the notion that the Akatsuki was able to send in one of its members unnoticed was disconcerting to say the least. Adding to her growing headache was the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach the undead attack left behind. She was certain it wouldn't be the last. All of her contemplation led her to one conclusion.

Time was running out.

**

* * *

**

Uchiha Temple

Itachi held his laughter as he recalled the last images that came from the dispelling Bunshin. Such emotional outbursts would be unbecoming of an Uchiha, even if the sight of the frustrated Godaime and the befuddled shinobi she was in charge of were so delightfully amusing. The slight change in his partner's face as Kisame came into view made it clear that the swordsman noticed his emotional state.

"I always said you needed to get into your work more often." the fish-faced nuke-nin stated mirthfully. His razor sharp teeth shone in a grin that threatened to split his face in two. "How did he handle the package?"

The raven-haired Uchiha calmed himself before responding to his partner's inquiry. He would have time to reflect later. "It should finish its work soon. I even met with his new team and gained some interesting information. We may need to change our plans."

"Is that so? Something that the poor little Leaf-nins said actually scared the almighty Uchiha? I wish I was there to see it." Kisame said tauntingly. It was rare that a plan hatched by his partner ever went awry. Only time that happened before was their first confrontation with the Kyuubi brat in that hotel years ago.

"I would hardly say it scared me, Kisame." Itachi stated as he glared at the swordsman. "It appears that Konoha fell to someone named Mephisto and forced the Hokage to retreat to Wave Country. This same person is going to be coming after us as well as our newly unwitting ally."

Kisame just chuckled darkly as he patted the hilt of his Samehada lovingly. "That isn't anything I worry about. More of a reason to give my blade a decent workout. If I die, I die but at least I will take a few out before I go."

"If you are so willing, then maybe we should head to Konoha in the first place. I didn't get to test myself against the undead he through at the Konoha-nin in Wave." The Uchiha nuke-nin remarked as he rose from the stone throne. He went on in succinct terms to describe the deadly supernatural force.

The zanpato-wielding Akatsuki member shivered in anticipation of the battles yet to come if the duo changed their course to fighting the undead. For him, the battle meant proving himself again. All Kisame ever wanted was to fight until finding a glorious death on the battlefield, like the warriors of old that he grew up reading in the storybooks he once had.

Grinning as he secured his zanpato to his back, he turned to make his way to the exit. "Just you and me versus an army of undead. Sounds like fun."

Itachi fell into step alongside his partner. "It won't be just us. It seems Konoha will be heading into battle as well. They may move up their timetable, but if not they will engage the enemy in a week or two. Our unwitting ally is actually going to be one of the initial infiltrators."

"Are we always going to be following that brat around?" Kisame asked disparagingly while watching the Konohan for any emotional response. What he saw was the typical unemotional visage that Itachi shown during their travels as they pushed open the double-doors.

The sky was clear and dusk was approaching as the two scanned the area briefly. It became obvious with the feel of foreign chakra nearby that they were not alone. Kisame focused his attention and noticed a group coming from the west at a decent rate of speed. When he concentrated on the approaching group, he recognized the tainted feel of his one time cohort lingering behind a signature he observed once before in that hotel confrontation years ago.

"So it seems your Sasuke managed to dredge up a few lackeys. Feel like saying hi?" Kisame queried mockingly to the older Uchiha.

"Not particularly, especially since we have other guests. Aren't you a far way from your assigned post, Zetsu?" Itachi monotonously challenged as he was looking over to a barren patch of dirt off to their left.

Kisame glanced over to that area to spot the large Venus flytrap headed plant-nin named Zetsu rising slowly out of the ground. In his arms was Konan, who appeared a bit worse for wear as she was placed on her feet. Inwardly, the former Mist-nin grimaced at the possible implication of their arrival. Either Madera and/or Pein were onto their plan or something drastic had occurred. Unconsciously, his sword hand inched toward Samehada for either possibility was not palatable now.

"I assure you that our post is here." Zetsu's light side replied tersely as he addressed his two comrades.

"_Especially since it is now a captive."_The dark half of Zetsu finished as the schizophrenic spy set Konan on her feet.

A sigh of disappointment rang from Kisame who was still vigilantly standing next to his partner awaiting the arrival of their opponents. "Such a shame. I wanted to be the one to put that teme in his place."

Traveling underground, as Zetsu did, was not the most pleasant of experiences and one Konan did not want to experience again. However, if they four of them were to survive, she needed to get past that discomfort and pull the group together. Hearing the swordsman's statement reminded her how difficult he could be. "You should be concerned about the… _thing_ that took him and the others captive. We are all that is left of the Akatsuki."

So shocking was the news as Konan and Zetsu briefed the duo of Madera's imprisonment and the emergence of Diablo that even the stoic Uchiha showed a glimmer of surprise. It didn't last long as he turned toward the west and the group of four still approaching their position.

"It may be best to depart. I doubt my brother will be so receptive of my presence here." The former ANBU captain stated plainly.

--------

Off in the distance, a quartet on black cloaked ninjas bounded from branch to branch making their way to the temple. They traveled in a simple diamond formation as they sped through the trees. Tension was high in the group as they made their way to the target they were assembled to take on. The lean teenage boy leading the quartet put them for one purpose that was quickly coming to a head.

He turned his head slightly to the redheaded girl off to his right, not missing a leap even with his attention or sight diverted. "What's the target's status, Karin?"

The bespectacled redhead focused her senses out in front of her scanning for the familiar large chakra sources they were tracking earlier. "It seems that the pair has stopped up ahead. There are two other large chakra sources there, Sasuke-kun!"

"Then either _he_ has guests or unwanted visitors." Sasuke muttered as he mulled the situation over in his brain. He knew from his first encounter with his estranged brother that he was in the company of one Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the renowned Shinobi Swordsmen of Kirigakure. His presence was the sole reason behind Juugo and Suigetsu's inclusion into the team. It was possible with one other person of Kisame's stature that his _teammates_ could succeed in their assigned task of interference.

Internally, the Uchiha knew this team was shoddy at best but it was what he could scrape together. Kabuto would have made a better fourth member than Karin. His presence would have made confronting anywhere from two opposing duos to a full team of S-class missing-nins infinitely more palatable. Unfortunately, he was loyal to Orochimaru to make any cooperation between them abysmal at best.

"Do we wait for a more favorable moment or continue to advance?" The baritone voice of Juugo stated as he broke Sasuke out of his musings.

"Don't be such a coward! You telling me that you can't handle a little challenge?" Suigetsu taunted from his left flank position.

"Quiet! We continue on." The former Konoha Genin ordered abruptly ending the bickering between the two before it could start.

Suigetsu gave his larger male teammate a scathing glare before returning his gaze forward. He knew well why Juugo kept to a peaceful nature but he was on this team as a strongman, the muscle of the group per se. _'Maybe on this mission, the freak will grow some balls instead of being such a pansy. His cursed form may be one tough S.O.B., but what use is he if he hides it away.'_

His musings ended abruptly when the red-haired harpy stayed perched on the last branch and was staring intently ahead. Sasuke halted the team and brought them in close but off to the side and watched as Karin slowly turned her head as if he locked on a target. Slowly, she turned her head toward the south and held that position for a minute.

"The four signatures are moving off toward the south at a high rate of speed. Before they departed, a fifth signature appeared, possibly a summons." The chakra-sensing medic announced.

Sasuke grunted and leaned against the trunk of the tree while pondering his next move. There were only a few things of value to the south. One by one, he crossed the unlikely off his list until the obvious answer sprung to mind. Satisfied with his reasoning, he leapt to the next branch continuing on their course to the temple. Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu shared a puzzled look before taking off to follow their silent leader.

"Why are we heading this way? Our target is to the south now." Karin questioned as soon as the trio got into speaking distance of their leader.

"It is _my_ target that is heading to the south. Don't ever forget that, Karin." Sasuke replied coldly causing the kunoichi to cringe slightly. "For now, we head to the temple to search the place and spend the night."

"Won't the target get away?" Juugo asked curiously.

"No, he'll be where I know he will go. After we get a good night's rest, we'll be paying my old village a visit." The rogue Uchiha stated with a tinge of anticipation for the upcoming encounter. Soon, he will have his revenge.

**

* * *

**

Amegakure

When Madera was first defeated by Senju Hashimara years ago, he vowed never to be defeated in such an unsightly manner again before his vengeance on that clan and Konohagakure was complete. Until that time, he survived attacks from shinobi looking to make a name for themselves, various beasts and monsters, and even withstood the hands of time. He even managed to capture and seal many of the legendary tailed demons. _'How ironic,'_ the ageless Uchiha pondered, _'that of all the things I conquered I am now reduced to biding my time in a cage like the many demons I sealed away while that which I vanquished will be used against me.'_

Being stuck in a cage inside the old sealing room only left him time to ponder his life. Jutsu was impossible from inside while the cage kept his chakra suppressed. Normally he would just cut himself free using any of the shinobi tools at his disposal, but after the sight of the Immortals' demise left the idea of escape as a mere afterthought.

--- _**Flashback ---**_

It was only a couple of hours after their capture that Diablo relocated the trio of captured shinobi to the sealing room. The three Akatsuki members attacked the bone pillars of their cages in a mad attempt to free themselves.

The Lord of Terror chuckled darkly. **"Ahhh, you pitiful humans amuse me. You can try to escape but you won't get far, especially now."**

Hidan was not amused by the demon's behavior. How dare this upstart treat a disciple of Lord Jashin this way. "You impudent dog, Lord Jashin will not be so forgiving for hindering one of his cherished disciples. You best free me before he finds out."

All Diablo did was to laugh louder before gathering swirls of dark energy in his claws. With a swipe, a tear formed onto the fabric of the air showing a shimmering red sea of energy behind it. **"Come my faithful pets, I have secured a meal for you!"**

Out from the tear came a long clawed hand used as a paw attached to a slimy pale-skinned arm. A second arm came forth and walked the beast through the tear. The long powerful arms were attached to bony shoulders that seemed to be oozing puss and slime. A thick and powerful neck attached at horned head to the shoulders. The face seemed like that of a normal woman and was out of place on the hideous beast. If it were not for the two spiny horns on the head in place of ears, one would think the head was not native to the body. A lizard-like body trailed behind the shoulders with a half-meter long tail dragging on the ground behind it.

After a second one of these beasts came out, a pair of disgusting creatures came forth next. Caked with chunks of half-eaten flesh, these beasts appeared as nothing more than blobs the size of a horse with elephant style legs. A long but pudgy neck supported a head with only one long and narrow red eye and a wide mouth rimmed the tentacles the size of a man's forearm.

Diablo grinned with this newly fanged mouth and calmly patted the last two beasts that emerged before the tear disappeared with a thunderclap. He faced the trio only to see the masked one stoically observing the proceedings while the two "Immortals" were frantically shaking their cages.

"You honestly think these foul beasts of yours scare me." Kakuzu announced. "I have walked these lands as long as Madera-sama and have destroyed countless enemies. Release me and I'll show you they are nothing but weak tools."

"For once I agree with my greedy partner." Hidan stated firmly. "I follow the will of Lord Jashin! His path is absolute and his gifts unconquerable! I will feed the blood of those beasts to my Lord."

A loud mocking laugh erupted from the Demon Lord. **"Oh you will make wonderful meals for my pets! Be sure to struggle! It gives your flesh such a wonderful taste." **He imparted with a sickening charm before waving his two tentacled beasts forward. It was not long before the sounds of struggling and the song of flesh being devoured replaced any noise their attempts their fighting made. The screams from the "Immortals" that quickly came soon were imprinted on Madera's soul.

--- _**End Flashback **_---

Shortly thereafter, Diablo left the sealing chamber leaving the beasts in the room with him. Rarely has Madera slept now knowing that if he did, he could be the next one eaten alive. He didn't know how long he waited in the chamber before the door opened once more and three figures walked forth. Beside Diablo was a tall man in dust covered hooded robes. From both him and Diablo came a demonic glow as the two gave the impression of them growing in size while small clumps of flesh splattered on the floor. Within moments, their glow faded except around the eyes. More horns seemed to sprout from Diablo and his skin took on an even scalier of an appearance. The other had a more of a crust to him, like that of an insect's exoskeleton. None of this was as shocking to Madera as the appearance of the third spectacled member in his usual purple and grey attire.

"I see you recognize me. Oh how the mighty has fallen, eh Madera?" Kabuto inquired mockingly.

"From one master to another Kabuto. I guess you can't go long without being some else's bitch." The Uchiha progenitor spat back venomously.

Kabuto made a chakra scalpel swiftly and made a move to strike the impudent captive before a bony but regal hand came from the robed man. He faced his master only to see the hand shake in a childish negative gesture.

"**Don't be so hasty, Kabuto. There is plenty of time to play later."** Baal said in his usual maniacal tone.

"That may be so, _Lord Baal_, but I am losing my patience. I recall you making statements to the effect of bestowing on me all of Lord Orochimaru's power. It is time to make good on that arrangement if you want my services any further." Kabuto demanded like a petulant child being denied his favorite treat.

Madera was shocked that the weak fool that Kabuto was would be so foolish to challenge these two. The demonic energies rippling off them were growing by the second and angering them would only prove to be unwise. He watched as the two Demon Lords glanced at each other and sniggered at the medic-nins request.

"**I'll take your request… into consideration."** Baal gleefully stated as he brought his right hand up to inspect the nails on his clawed hand.

After a moment, he made a conducting gesture and a small yellowish blob of energy appeared. Kabuto watched triumphantly as he took it to mean that his gift was finally granted. Baal made a swirling gesture with his index finger and the blob strung itself out into a snake-like appearance. Finally, he held his hand up pointing his first two fingers up to the sky while curling the rest like a fist. A sweeping gesture was made pointing at Kabuto and the energy shot out at near blinding speeds, impacting into the medic-nin. It was absorbed into his body and a grey energy poured out from his eyes and mouth. With his other hand, Baal reached into his robes and pulled out a jade colored jar with a black cork stopper.

"**It seems your request… was not acceptable." **Baal said with a laugh as he uncorked the jar and a smoky form burst out in the form of a man. It floated over to Kabuto and was absorbed by him. A brief moment later, the grey energy subsided and the henchman's body stated to change. His hair grew in length and draped back flat down his back. His skin paled and his eyes turned a permanent blood red with black pupils.

Once the transformation was completed, the new person bowed to Baal obediently. "A pleasure to see you again, my Lord, though I had expected to not see you again after that accursed Druid and his allies made their way to the Summit of Mount Arreat."

"**It is nice to have you back Nilithalk. Did you think I would leave you on the sidelines when I have need of your Necromancer ways?"** Baal asked in a cheerful but sickening tone.

"What is it that my Lord requires of me?"

"**There is a man I want resurrected into his old body. Make sure he is subservient under the control of the Three. After he is reborn, send him to his former village to escort Mephisto back here. Search your body's memories. You'll know who I speak of."**

The traitor of Harrogath closed his eyes shortly before nodding and making his way out of the room. As he walked away, Madera could hear a small laugh and the sound of Kabuto's old glasses hitting a wall. Knowing there was not much available to him now; he sat on the cold floor of the chamber and leaned back against the cage. Patience was the key now if he wanted to escape. Either someone will come here to stop the Demon Lords or they will make a mistake soon. Ever the opportunist, he knew when to wait for the moment to strike.

**

* * *

**

Wave Country

After the encounter with the forces of Mephisto, it was decided to step up the timetable. The main teams would head out at morning's light and work on their teamwork as they approached Konoha. During the night, it was left to Jiraiya, Shibi and Tsume to guard the encampment. With the addition of Jiraiya's toads, Shibi's kikaichu, and Kudomaru, the trio was enough to keep watch through the night knowing they would take rest come morning.

Tsume and Kudomaru were stationed at the inn while Shibi took the bridge and Jiraiya patrolled in between. The watch was uneventful until two in the morning when a fog rolled in from the far end of the bridge. Shibi's insects noticed the subtle increase in latent energy in the air as a silhouette of a shapely woman shone in the fog as the moonlight struck it.

"_Bridge to base. Bridge to base. I have contact. Appears to be one adult female but she is shrouded in fog. There is a small energy increase, over."_The Aburame leader reported in to Tsume.

Before the Inuzuka Clan head made any comment, the cheerful but perverted voice of Jiraiya responded. _"A waif appears in the mist beckoning for accompaniment? I'll need to research this further. I will be there shortly. Over." _

Tsume just shook her head as she saw the dust trail heading to the bridge. "Sometimes I truly wonder if he really is a Sannin or just an idiot."

Within seconds, Jiraiya was standing next to Shibi with his notepad out. The Aburame watched out of the corner of his eye as the author furiously scribbled out notes for his next best-selling pornographic novel. Shibi turned his attention back to the female when he noticed his male kikaichu were in a state of contentment and unresponsive to his commands. He could also smell the pheromones in air and his attunement to his internal colonies made him vulnerable. Slowly he was relaxing in his stance and weaving in place. The two queens he kept inhabited were buzzing warnings over and over but they were ignored as the siren approached.

Jiraiya himself noticed something was amiss when Shibi lowered his arms and stood relaxed on the bridge. _'There seems to be something wrong here. For some reason though, I can't concentrate past that.' _The Toad Sage thought as the woman finally appeared from the fog. Her long red hair, gravity-defying bust encased in shining metal armor, and small metal skirt showing off her long luscious legs were enough to make any man lustful with overwhelming desire. He could barely focus as she approached all while speaking.

"**Need not fret, you sweet and delicious man. Just relax as I fulfill your desires. You do desire me, right?"** The seductress inquired sensually. Every step she took oozed sensuality as she strutted and swayed her hips in a hypnotic fashion.

Jiraiya gulped as he could do nothing more than nod. He tried reaching for a kunai but it seemed to be out of reach even though it there on his hip. His breath quickened and he started to sweat as his heartbeat rose along with a specific portion of his body. The object of his desire reached out a touched his chest gently before kissing his cheek softly. On contact, the sage's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he collapsed heavily.

Tsume broke out her binoculars and swung them to the direction of the bridge. Under the moonlight, she could barely make out the unconscious form of the Sannin. In the next moment, she noticed a tall woman with five talons arching from her back reach out to Shibi and kissed his cheek. She had no time for righteous female fury as Shibi fainted and the woman continued her walk to the inn.

"Kudomaru, go wake the guys. I'll go wake the females." She ordered quickly as she set the binoculars down. She turned to make to the rooms when she noticed her companion failed to move.

"Kudomaru?" She prodded as she inspected her partner. The canine was panting and whining as if in heat. She took a whiff of the air and took practically taste the pheromones in the air. Knowing her companion was out for the count, she made off to the female rooms hoping to wake whomever she could.

Lilith just shook her head at what transpired. Such weak willed men all around and nothing to give her a good fight. She began to wonder what it was that Lord Mephisto was so worried about. Surely, he did not expect this rabble to put up any resistance even if they had years to prepare.

Lazily, she made her way to the inn that held all of her wonderful prey. She was a few meters from the door before it opened and a group of women spilled out. The pink haired harlot, lavender-haired hussy, and the brown haired mouse imitator she paid little attention to. However, it was the busty woman in the vest and shorts with a trio of female canines and a woman wearing purple glowing armor holding a small rod that gave her pause.

"**So, it seems that my quarry wants to play."** Lilith taunted as she raised her talons and pushes a greenish energy to their tips.

"Playing is not what we had in mind." Sakura replied clenching her fists.

"We will stop you where you are." Hinata stated firmly as she readied herself in a Jyuuken stance.

"We're sure to leave you full of holes when we are done." Tenten gleefully stated as she twirled a kunai.

"There might not be enough left for my partners to eat." Hana said as her and her companions growled.

"Be gone evil temptress. You are not welcome here." Selene said as cold air circulated around the tip of her casting rod.

Lilith just chuckled in a haughty laugh. **"Oh I do just love a good challenge. I hope you do like the rain." **She cackled as storm clouds started to brew overhead. A flash of lightning followed by the crack of thunder preceded the rain that started to fall.

The four kunoichi and the sorceress gave each other passing glances before nodding and rushing forward to attack, knowing that this was a fight they had to win.


	12. Not the end yet

I hate to post this. When I started this story I never thought I would ever do this but life has caught up to me. Since the last time I posted a chapter, I have taken over custody of my son. This has taken away from any free time I had for creative writing. However, I do not want to let this story go. I enjoyed writing it and it would be a shame to let it die. I have two stories that I have authored and this one is the only one that is still getting reviews and bookmarks. This has led me to the following decision.

I have decided to try to get back to writing this story and this one alone. The other story is going to be placed for adoption/collaboration. The chapters may come slowly but they will come. The only way I will place this one up for adoption too is if I find that I still can't find the time to compose three or more updates in two monts. At that point this story will also come up for adoption.

Wish me luck.


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